Individual differences in the temporal variability of medically unexplained symptom reporting

Individual differences in the temporal variability of medically unexplained symptom reporting.

THEORY Non-specific or medically unexplained symptoms account for up to 35% of outpatient referrals. In contrast to the literature on affect, little is known about how people frame daily symptoms and how these patterns are influenced by individual differences. METHOD Three fixed occasion diary studies over an 8-day period (one on ill veterans of the Gulf War and two on healthy undergraduates)...

Medically unexplained neurological symptoms

A 56-year-old woman with seronegative polyarthritis presented with a four-year history of lower back pain and right-sided sciatica. On examination she had reduced power and impaired sensation in her right leg. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spine revealed anterior degenerative slip of L4 on L5 with moderate overall reduction in canal calibre and osteophyte encroachment in the right lat...

Method Issues in Epidemiological Studies of Medically Unexplained Symptom-based Conditions in Veterans.

Symptom-based conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and medically unexplained multi-symptom illness (MSI) are fairly common in the general population and are also important veteran's health concerns due to their higher frequency among U.S. veterans who served during the 1990-1991 Gulf War. CFS, MSI, and other symptom-based conditions are often associated with considerable morbidity ...

Explaining medically unexplained symptoms.

Patients with medically unexplained symptoms comprise from 15% to 30% of all primary care consultations. Physicians often assume that psychological factors account for these symptoms, but current theories of psychogenic causation, somatization, and somatic amplification cannot fully account for common unexplained symptoms. Psychophysiological and sociophysiological models provide plausible medi...

Consequences of Medically Unexplained Symptoms