BMJ 2000;321:300 ( 29 July )

Letters

Patients in rheumatology clinics need reassurance

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR---As rheumatologists, we were delighted to see your issue devoted to chronic disease. Donovan and Blake are to be congratulated on tackling the important issue of reassurance in chronic disease management.1 The reassurance seemed, however, directed to the doctors' expectations of the patients' concerns rather than the patients' actual fears. Neither the preliminary interview nor the consultation seemed to define what patients actually worried about.

Fear is a powerful emotion experienced by many people with musculoskeletal disorders. The disabling effects of fear caused to patients by back pain have been clearly identified2 and may have important consequences for their behaviour.3 A specific questionnaire has therefore been constructed to elucidate the context of patients' fears.4

Patients' fears can often be ascertained by asking the simple question, "what is it that worries you most about your condition?" In a rheumatological clinic for back pain, 86 consecutive new patients were asked what . . . [Full text of this article]
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Relevant Article

Qualitative study of interpretation of reassurance among patients attending rheumatology clinics: "just a touch of arthritis, doctor?"
Jenny L Donovan and David R Blake
BMJ 2000 320: 541-544. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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  • Mackie, S L, Frank, A O (2003). Medically unexplained symptoms: (Letter 1 of 2). JRSM 96: 422-422 [Full text]  
  • Weissberg, P, Watkins, H, Crossman, D, Poole-Wilson, P (2002). Training in academic cardiology: prospects for a better future. Heart 87: 198-200 [Full text]  
  • (2000). Robin Goodfellow. Rheumatology (Oxford) 39: 1306-1306 [Full text]  
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