Abstract
Background
Evidence of incidence of functional somatic disorders (FSD) is hampered by unclear delimitations of the conditions and little is known about the possible interchangeability between syndromes. Further, knowledge on remission and persistence of FSD in the general population is limited. We aimed to assess the natural course of various FSD over 5 years in the general population.
Methods
A follow-up study (Danish Study of Functional Disorders—DanFunD) was conducted in a random sample of the general population comprising 5,738 participants aged 18–76 years at baseline. Both at baseline and five-year follow-up, participants filled in validated questionnaires on symptoms to delimitate two approaches of FSD, the bodily distress syndrome (BDS) and four functional somatic syndromes (FSS): irritable bowel (IB), chronic fatigue (CF), chronic widespread pain (CWP), and multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS).
Results
Both BDS and FSS showed a five-year incidence around 11%. Incidence of the individual FSS varied from 0.8% (MCS) to 5.7% (CF). BDS and FSS showed a remission proportion close to 50%. We found a high degree of interchangeability between each FSS varying from 15.0% to 23.4%.
Conclusion
We identified a marked fluctuation pattern of FSD during a five-year period, with a high degree of interchangeability between each FSS. The study stresses the importance of large population-based cohorts with transparent delimitation of FSD in future research to understand these complex conditions.
Evidence of incidence of functional somatic disorders (FSD) is hampered by unclear delimitations of the conditions and little is known about the possible interchangeability between syndromes. Further, knowledge on remission and persistence of FSD in the general population is limited. We aimed to assess the natural course of various FSD over 5 years in the general population.
Methods
A follow-up study (Danish Study of Functional Disorders—DanFunD) was conducted in a random sample of the general population comprising 5,738 participants aged 18–76 years at baseline. Both at baseline and five-year follow-up, participants filled in validated questionnaires on symptoms to delimitate two approaches of FSD, the bodily distress syndrome (BDS) and four functional somatic syndromes (FSS): irritable bowel (IB), chronic fatigue (CF), chronic widespread pain (CWP), and multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS).
Results
Both BDS and FSS showed a five-year incidence around 11%. Incidence of the individual FSS varied from 0.8% (MCS) to 5.7% (CF). BDS and FSS showed a remission proportion close to 50%. We found a high degree of interchangeability between each FSS varying from 15.0% to 23.4%.
Conclusion
We identified a marked fluctuation pattern of FSD during a five-year period, with a high degree of interchangeability between each FSS. The study stresses the importance of large population-based cohorts with transparent delimitation of FSD in future research to understand these complex conditions.
Originalsprog | Engelsk |
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Artikelnummer | e0312031 |
Tidsskrift | PLoS ONE |
Vol/bind | 19 |
Udgave nummer | 10 |
Antal sider | 12 |
ISSN | 1932-6203 |
DOI | |
Status | Udgivet - 2024 |
Bibliografisk note
Funding Information:This work was funded by The Lundbeck Foundation (grant number R155-2013-14070; receiver TJ, https://lundbeckfonden.com/en), The Tryg foundation (grant number 7-11-0213; receiver TJ, and grant number 117548; receiver TJ, https://tryg.com/en), Helsefonden (grant number 22-B-0583; receiver TJ, https://helsefonden.dk/), and the Marilyn Brachman Hoffman Foundation (grant #2021-1; receiver TD, https://mbhoffman.org/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The authors would like to thank the participants in the DanFunD cohort and the staff behind the cohort for their work in collecting data.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Schovsbo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.