Long-term prognosis of patients with psychogenic movement disorders

Psychogenic movement disorders (PMD) are hyper- or hypokinetic movement disorders associated with underlying psychological or psychiatric disorders. Structured telephone interview was administered to 228 patients with PMD seen in our clinic between 1990 and 2003. The mean age of the subjects was 42.3+/-14.3 years (range 14-70 years), mean duration of symptoms was 4.7+/-8.1 years (range 2-14 years), and mean duration of follow-up was 3.4+/-2.8 years (6 months-12 years). Improvement of symptoms was noted in 56.6% patients; while 22.1% were worse, and 21.3% remained the same at the time of follow-up. In this longitudinal study of patients with PMD we found that indices of strong physical health, positive social life perceptions, patient's perception of effective treatment by the physician, elimination of stressors, and treatment with a specific medication contributed to a favorable outcome.