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Medically unexplained symptoms--GPs' attitudes towards their cause and management
S Reid1, D Whooley, T Crayford
1Academic Department of Psychological Medicine, Guy's King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine and Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AZ, UK.
Family Practice
|October 18, 2001
Summary
General practitioners (GPs) view managing patients with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) as crucial but lack confidence in effective strategies. They believe these patients belong in primary care and require more psychiatric support and training.
Area of Science:
- General Practice
- Psychiatry
- Health Services Research
Background:
- Medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUS) are common in primary care but challenging to manage.
- General practitioners (GPs) play a central role in managing patients with MUS, yet their attitudes towards this role are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To survey the attitudes of UK General Practitioners (GPs) towards medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) and somatization.
- To understand GPs' perceptions of managing patients with MUS to inform effective management strategies.
Main Methods:
- A postal questionnaire was used to survey a random sample of 400 GPs in the South Thames (West) region.
- Attitudes towards the cause and management of MUS were recorded from 284 respondents (75% adjusted response rate).
Main Results:
- Most GPs believe patients with MUS should be managed in primary care, emphasizing reassurance, counseling, and gatekeeping.
- A majority of GPs associate MUS with personality or psychiatric issues, and fewer than half feel effective somatization treatments exist.
- Despite viewing MUS management as important, GPs perceive a lack of effective strategies.
Conclusions:
- GPs consider managing patients with MUS a significant part of their workload.
- There is a perceived lack of effective management strategies for MUS among GPs.
- Psychiatrists should increase support and training for GPs in managing MUS and somatization.