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Medically unexplained symptoms: perceptions of physicians in primary health care
Tora Woivalin1, Gunilla Krantz, Taina Mäntyranta
1The Nordic School of Public Health, Göteborg, Centre for Health Equity Studies, CHESS, Stockholm University, Sweden.
Background:
Patients presenting with multiple symptoms represent a substantial part of a GP's total work load. At the same time, these patients account for the majority of the people on long-term sick-leave in Sweden today.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to explore GPs' perceptions and ways of managing patients with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS).
Methods:
Five focus group discussions were conducted with a total of 27 GPs. In the collection and analysis of data, a phenomenographic approach was used.
Results:
The GPs described how they used four different approaches to manage patients with MUS: a biomedical, a psychological, an educational and a psychosocial approach. Different approaches were used, depending on the patient and the situation, and the GPs even switched approach when working with the same patient.
Conclusions:
In their work with patients with MUS, GPs need support and further training to improve the way the biomedical frame of reference is integrated with the humanistic perspective.
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