Nielsen, G;
Buszewicz, M;
Edwards, M;
Stevenson, F;
(2019)
A Qualitative Study of the Experiences and Perceptions of Patients with Functional Motor Disorder.
Disability and Rehabilitation
10.1080/09638288.2018.1550685.
(In press).
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Patients with functional motor disorder are perceived as difficult by health care professionals, but we know very little about the patients’ perspective. Understanding the experiences and perceptions of patients could help to improve clinical services and patient outcomes.PURPOSE: To explore the experiences and perspectives of patients with functional motor disorder using qualitative research methods. METHODS: This qualitative study was embedded within a feasibility study of specialist physiotherapy. Eleven patients with functional motor disorder participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews prior to receiving treatment. The interview transcripts were subjected to an inductive thematic analysis. RESULTS: The data were arranged into six themes: (1) the burden of living with functional motor disorder; (2) nobody knew what was wrong; (3) dissatisfaction with psychological explanations; (4) patients feel abandoned; (5) iatrogenic harm; and (6) powerlessness. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The study participants experienced substantial physical and emotional burdens associated with functional motor disorder. They were generally dissatisfied with psychological explanations for their symptoms and commonly felt misunderstood and abandoned by health care professionals, which appeared to leave them vulnerable to iatrogenic harm. A lack of understanding of functional motor disorder left participants feeling unable to help themselves. This research highlights a number of inadequacies within current clinical services for patients with functional motor disorder.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | A Qualitative Study of the Experiences and Perceptions of Patients with Functional Motor Disorder |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1080/09638288.2018.1550685 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2018.1550685 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Functional, neurology, psychogenic, conversion disorder, qualitative, subjective experience |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Primary Care and Population Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10061749 |
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