Medically Unexplained Symptoms in Health Care Systems
Journal Title: KultŁ«ra ir visuomenė. SocialiniŁ³ tyrimŁ³ Ł¾urnalas - Year 2010, Vol 1, Issue 2
Abstract
Approximately 20-70 % of patients at the primary health care level complain of symptoms unrelated to any organic pathology. Since there is no possibility to explain the origin of these symptoms medically, it is believed that they are caused by psychological, social and emotional problems. The debatable origin of the symptoms raises a number of questions about their recognition in medicine. Difficult diagnosis requiring a large number of various tests and poor symptom relief or elimination forecasts determine the negative attitude of medical staff towards patients with such symptoms. Patients complaining of medically unexplained symptoms (hereinafter – MUS) are considered to be an economic burden to the health care system undermining the image of the medical profession. These problems cause difficulties in the communication between doctors and patients as well as their mutual negative experiences.The purpose of this article is to provide information on the area of sociology dealing with MUS. MUS have generated considerable interest among sociologists in Western countries. The article presents the concept and history of muS and provides information on this type of complaints and problems faced by patients suffering from biomedically undefined disorders.The article is based on studies carried out by foreign medical sociologists in an effort to ascertain how different types of medically unexplained disorders affect the quality of a person’s life and his/her relationship with health care professionals. The relations between patients and the health care system have also been studied in Lithuania, but the issue of MUS has not been examined yet. Although MUS do not account for the majority of all complaints expressed at the doctor’s office, studies in this area have revealed the most problematic aspects of health care.
Authors and Affiliations
Ingrida Naujokaitė
Keywords
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