"Understand your illness and your needs": Assessment-informed patient education for people with multiple functional somatic syndromes.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Patients suffering from multiple functional somatic syndromes (FSS) such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, or irritable bowel syndrome, often lack both a clear diagnosis and tangible illness explanations, which is a barrier for treatment engagement. We tested a short-term intervention taking the unifying concept of Bodily Distress Syndrome (BDS) as a point of departure. The intervention consisted of a clinical assessment, group-based patient education, and one follow-up consultation. METHODS: 174 patients were included and received questionnaires at baseline, after clinical assessment, after patient education, and median 19 weeks after baseline. Data were analyzed using random effects models and simple t-tests. Qualitative data were thematically analyzed. RESULTS: We found small reductions in symptom levels, considerable reductions in illness worry, and improvement of illness perceptions and illness-related behaviors. Overall, patients evaluated the intervention positively and expressed high expectations for further treatment. Qualitative results mainly supported these findings. CONCLUSION: Targeting illness perceptions through patient education is crucial to obtain patient engagement in self-help management or further treatment. This may lead to improved outcomes. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS Physicians in primary and secondary care should strive to give patients with multiple FSS a clear understanding that their various FSS diagnoses are related and provide tangible illness explanations.