Patients with somatisation disorders need considered explanations

Patients with somatising disorders make disproportionate use of health services and in the process may incur iatrogenic risk. On p 372 Salmon et al report that most of these patients are dissatisfied with the explanations doctors give for their symptoms. Patients perceive most explanations as rejecting or colluding. A few patients were given explanations that were satisfying and empowering. Empowering explanations usually explained possible mechanisms and involved patients in managing their own illness. Empowering explanations may be able to influence patients with somatisation disorders, improving their wellbeing and reducing the demands they make on health services.


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Relevant Article

Patients' perceptions of medical explanations for somatisation disorders: qualitative analysis
Peter Salmon, Sarah Peters, and Ian Stanley
BMJ 1999 318: 372-376. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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