More evidence that illness name shapes attitudes, respect   (4 votes) ProHealth.com • September 15, 2012 Tweet previous article next article Article [in Dutch]: How do patients interpret terms for medically unexplained symptoms? - Source: Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde, 2012 By EM Kingma, et al [Note: Even though the researchers didn’t include a really medical sounding option (such as myalgic encephalomyelitis) in comparing attitudes toward names for ME/CFS, they still found that the name, especially one suggesting a mental cause, strongly shapes attitudes.] Abstract: Objective: To investigate how primary care patients interpret the existing terminology used to describe medically unexplained symptoms; to contribute to the current academic discussion on unequivocal terminology. Design: Descriptive cohort study. Methods: We approached patients in the waiting rooms of two general medical practices in the city of Groningen and in the province of Drenthe. Based on a fictitious case, the patients were asked to assign connotations to a number of possible diagnoses for medically unexplained tiredness. The patients could choose from seven predetermined connotations. Among the diagnoses for medically unexplained tiredness were: • 'Functional fatigue', • 'Chronic fatigue syndrome', • 'Psychosomatic tiredness', • And 'medically unexplained tiredness'. From the seven connotations, we labeled three connotations as being negative. When patients gave at least one negative connotation to a possible diagnosis, the diagnosis was labeled as 'offensive'. Results: A total of 184 patients participated in the study. From the alternative diagnoses for medically unexplained tiredness, 'psychosomatic tiredness' had the most negative connotations: at least one negative connotation for 65 (35%) patients. 'Chronic fatigue syndrome' and 'functional fatigue' had the fewest negative connotations: at least one negative connotation for respectively 17 (9%) and 24 (13%) patients. Conclusion: The terms 'chronic fatigue syndrome' and 'functional fatigue' were less offensive. Our results could imply that terms for medically unexplained tiredness that refer less to a psychological basis are most acceptable for the patient. Source: Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde, 2012;156(37):A4541. PMID:22971428, by Kingma EM, Moddeljonge R, Rosmalen JG. Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen, Interdisciplinair Centrum Psychopathologie en Emotieregulatie (ICPE), Groningen, Netherlands.

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