Integrated model of care for functional movement disorder: targeting brain, mind and body

To describe the therapy approaches and clinical outcomes of an integrated care model for patients with functional movement disorder (FMD).

A retrospective chart review was conducted for all treated individuals with a primary diagnosis of FMD between January 2020 and July 2022. Patients received time-limited integrated therapy (n = 21) (i.e., simultaneous therapy delivered by psychiatry, neurology and physiotherapy), physiotherapy (n = 18) or virtual physiotherapy alone (n = 9). Primary outcomes included the Simplified-Functional Movement Disorders Rating Scale (S-FMDRS) and Clinical Global Impression-Improvement scale (CGI-I) collected at baseline and post-intervention.

Forty-eight patients completed treatment (42% male; mean age, 48.5 ± 16.6 years, median symptom duration 30 months). The most common presentations were gait disorder, tremor and mixed hyperkinetic FMD. Common comorbidities included pain and fatigue. Three-quarters of patients had a comorbid psychiatric diagnosis. There was a significant reduction in S-FMDRS score following therapy (71%, p < 0.0001) and 69% had "much" or "very much" improved on the CGI-I. There was no difference between therapy groups. Attendance rates were high for both in-person (94%) and virtual (97%) visits.

These findings support that a time-limited integrated model of care is feasible and effective in treating patients with FMD.