functional neurological symptoms
Conditions
Interventions
Intervention group: Educational treatment by neurologists:
At the (outpatient) department of Neurology the patient is informed that he or she has functional symptoms. For further treatment these pati
Sponsors
Academisch Medisch Centrum
Postbus 22660
1100 DD Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Eligibility
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: 1. Tension type headache: Headache without alarming symptoms, not consistent with one of the headache syndromes (migraine, cluster headache or analgesic abuse) and at least one other functional symptom; 2. Back and neck pain: Pain not considered to be caused by spinal pathology (fractures, spondylitis, metastases), myelopathy, radiculopathy, plexopathy or neuropathy and at least one other functional symptom; 3. Pseudo movement disorders: Movement disorders not consistent with one of the known movement disorders; 4. Mainly sensory disturbances: These disturbances cannot be explained by central of peripheral nervous system disorders; 5. Mainly motor disturbances other than movement disorders: These disturbances cannot be explained by central of peripheral nervous system disorders; 6. Pseudo-epilepsy ¡V atypical seizures without evidence for epilepsy on electroencephalographic investigations.
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: 1. Patients under 18 years old; 2. Patients known prior to assessment to have psychiatric disorders other than somatoform, depressive, or anxiety disorders; 3. Patients with a primary diagnosis of a severe mood, anxiety, or psychotic disorders requiring psychiatric treatment; 4. Patient in psychotherapy at the time of the study; 5. Patients who obviously simulate their complaints; 6. Patients who are in dispute about financial or social benefit.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| The primary outcome is the patient’s health related quality of life 12 months after randomisation. Health related quality of life will be assessed with using the 'Short Form-36' health survey(SF-36).The primary outcome will be assessed 3, 6 and 12 months after randomisation. | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Secondary outcomes are the level of activities of daily living as measured by the 'AMC linear disability scale' (ALDS), self-reported physical symptoms assessed with the somatization subscale of the symptom checklist-90 (SCL-90), symptoms of anxiety and depression assessed by the ‘hospital anxiety and depression scale’ (HADS), pain catastrophizing thoughts assessed with the 'pain catastrophizing scale' (PCS), severity of pain assessed with the 'visual analogue scale' (VAS), absence of work and medical consumption (number of visits to physicians, medical treatments, additional examinations, alternative care). Secondary outcomes will also be assessed at 3, 6 and 12 months. | — |
Contacts
Public ContactY.B.W.E.M. Roos
Academic Medical Center (AMC), Department of Neurology, H2 P.O. Box 22660.
Outcome results
None listed