Functional Movement Disorder: Assessment and Treatment.

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Neuropsychiatry

Background:

• Functional movement disorder (FMD) is a prevalent and potentially reversible cause of neurological disability.
• Understanding of FMD's clinical presentation, diagnosis, and management has significantly advanced over the past two decades.
• FMD encompasses heterogeneous motor symptoms and non-motor features like pain and fatigue.

Purpose of the Study:

• To summarize recent advances in the understanding, diagnosis, and management of functional movement disorders.
• To highlight diagnostic criteria based on positive signs of inconsistency and incongruence.
• To review evidence for therapeutic interventions in FMD.

Main Methods:

• Review of recent literature on functional movement disorders.
• Analysis of diagnostic criteria for FMD.
• Evaluation of evidence for physiotherapy and psychotherapy in FMD management.

Main Results:

• Functional movement disorder presents with diverse motor symptoms and associated non-motor symptoms.
• Diagnosis relies on identifying positive neurological signs inconsistent with organic disease.
• Physiotherapy and psychotherapy demonstrate promising efficacy in managing FMD.

Conclusions:

• Functional movement disorder is a common neurological condition with significant disability potential.
• Accurate diagnosis by neurologists or neuropsychiatrists is crucial.
• Multimodal treatment approaches, including physiotherapy and psychotherapy, offer effective management strategies for FMD.