Singh Amandeep, Ranjan Piyush, Kumari Aakansha, Kaur Tanveer, Sarkar Siddharth, Sahu Anamika, Prakash Bindu, Kaloiya Gauri Shankar, Baitha Upendra, Rawat Nandini, Kuanar Baboo Ananta Gopal
Department of Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Department of Psychiatry and National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
J Educ Health Promot. 2023 Apr 28;12:119. doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_1513_22. eCollection 2023.
Approximately one-fourth of individuals who seek treatment in outpatient medical settings have Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms (MUPS), a prevalent medical ailment. Patients with MUPS have a considerable functional impairment, and a lower quality of life, and may also have co-occurring psychiatric conditions.
Eleven Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) (four virtual and seven face-to-face) were conducted with patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals in 2021 in a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi. Thematic analysis was carried out using QSR Nvivo software.
A total of 36 participants were recruited in the study, including patients with MUPS ( = 12), caregivers ( = 10), and healthcare professionals ( = 14) dealing with the patients of MUPS. Three themes were identified: burden of MUPS, symptom profile of patients with MUPS, and psychological profile of patients with MUPS. These were further categorized into eight sub-themes: prevalence, symptoms, course of illness, improvement with treatment, duration of symptoms, attribution of symptoms, psychological impact, and coping strategies.
The study helped us to gain insight into the characteristics and experiences of patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals dealing with MUPS in an Indian setup. Greater awareness of MUPS and training of care providers about the occurrence, management, and referral of MUPS can be beneficial.
在门诊医疗机构寻求治疗的患者中，约四分之一患有医学上无法解释的身体症状（MUPS），这是一种常见的疾病。患有MUPS的患者有相当大的功能障碍和较低的生活质量，并且可能还伴有精神疾病。
2021年，在新德里的一家三级医院，对患者、护理人员和医疗保健专业人员进行了11次焦点小组讨论（FGD）（4次虚拟讨论和7次面对面讨论）。使用QSR Nvivo软件进行主题分析。
该研究共招募了36名参与者，包括患有MUPS的患者（n = 12）、护理人员（n = 10）和治疗MUPS患者的医疗保健专业人员（n = 14）。确定了三个主题：MUPS的负担、MUPS患者的症状特征以及MUPS患者的心理特征。这些主题进一步细分为八个子主题：患病率、症状、病程、治疗改善情况、症状持续时间、症状归因、心理影响和应对策略。
该研究帮助我们深入了解了在印度环境中处理MUPS的患者、护理人员和医疗保健专业人员的特征和经历。提高对MUPS的认识以及对护理人员进行有关MUPS的发生、管理和转诊的培训可能会有所帮助。
