Participants
The 22 studies had 3809 participants (mean = 173) at start of treatment, and 3208 (mean = 145) at the end; the mean completion rate was 84%.
Two studies were conducted in the US,30,39 and the rest in Europe. Participants’ ages ranged from 18 to 75 years, with a mean of 41 years (standard deviation = 16.5). As is common in research on MUS, most participants were female (76%).
Diagnoses
The broad and overlapping nature of MUS conditions and symptoms was represented in the 22 eligible trials. Four studies (n = 441) recruited patients using DSM-IV diagnostic criteria,47 most commonly undifferentiated somatoform disorder (n = 173), somatisation disorder (n = 133), and pain disorder (n = 56).29,30,42,45 Of these four, two did not report the specific physical complaints of participants,29,30 one42 reported most frequent complaints of pain, dizziness, heart palpitations, and fatigue, and the fourth45 provided details of complaints, including pain (n = 57), fatigue (n = 31), gastrointestinal symptoms (n = 13), and neurological symptoms (n = 11).
One study (n = 569) recruited participants with multiple and persistent bodily symptoms assessed as medically unexplained and deemed to be the primary treatment issue by their GP, but did not specify the complaints.35
Five studies included participants (n = 1172) with chronic pain or fibromyalgia,26,27,31,33,34 and four included only participants with fibromyalgia (n = 482). 24,25,36,44 Among these nine studies, back and/or neck pain was the dominant complaint (n = 541).
Several studies focused on specific disorders classified as medically unexplained: four treated chronic fatigue (n = 1026),38,39,41,46 one treated IBS (n = 149),37 and one treated tinnitus (n = 304).40
Finally, two studies32,42 recruited patients who met criteria for a newly proposed diagnosis of bodily distress syndrome (n = 119), covering chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, non-cardiac chest pain, IBS, hyperventilation syndrome, and tension headache.
Risk of bias analysis
Methodologically, the main problems were of inadequate power, questionable treatment quality, and attrition bias (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Risk of bias by item for each included study.
Size and power
Five trials had no power analysis,29,30 ,37,43,44 two estimated power (initially or post hoc) but were underpowered,31,42 and one estimated using clinical experience and was probably underpowered.27
Treatment quality
Ten studies did not assess treatment quality or fidelity,25,29,31,34–36,40,41,44,45 and a further four were weak or not fully reported.24,33,37,43 One study with a high dose of treatment (25 × 90 minute sessions) provided supervision to check treatment quality with limited information on the treatment protocol.43
Attrition bias
Most studies had more than 10% attrition (maximum 44%;31 mean 16%). Two used completer analyses,27,33 eight estimated missing values,25,31,37,39–42,45 and one did not specify.43
Outcomes
Of the 215 full-text studies examined in the literature search, 114 cited high healthcare use as a rationale for research on MUS, but few assessed it as an outcome.
Of the 22 eligible trials, 18 studies contributed usable data for meta-analysis of healthcare use outcomes; contact with six of these studies26,30,31,40,42,46 provided data for two.26,46 All assessed healthcare use at follow-up (8 weeks to 3 years); the latest complete measurement was used where there was more than one. Most trials (n = 16) collected data through self-report, five directly from medical records,26,30,32,41,44 and one from insurance company records.27
Healthcare contacts and resource use
Eighteen studies with usable data contributed to the meta-analysis of healthcare contacts and resource use.
Sixteen trials had continuous data analyses. Ten referred to contacts with healthcare professionals,24,27,29,33,34,36,38,39,44,45 three to costs,26,32,35 and three to both contacts and costs;37,38,41 for these three, contacts were used rather than costs for consistency. The overall effect showed a just significant difference between intervention and control in reduction of healthcare use: standardised mean difference (SMD) = −0.18 (95% CI = −0.35 to −0.01); z = 2.07, P = 0.04. Heterogeneity was 75%.
Raw data for three studies24,25,27,showed non-normal distribution; four other trials may have had skewed data,6,32,37,45 with no evidence of attempts to correct them. One study tried to correct highly skewed cost data in the analysis.26 Because analysis should be reasonably robust in handling deviations from normality, no trial was excluded, but it raises doubts over interpretation of some individual study findings. Two trials with event-related data on healthcare contacts and resource use33,43 were analysed separately but showed no significant difference between treatment and control groups: odds ratio (OR) = 0.75 (95% CI = 0.34 to 1.65); z = 0.70, P = 0.48. Heterogeneity was moderate, at 58%. Four studies without usable data reported contacts with healthcare professionals or costs,30,31,40,42 two40,42 reported no significant difference between groups, one30 reported a significant difference in healthcare costs favouring CBT but no significant difference in physician visits between groups, whereas the third31 reported a marginal difference in costs favouring the control group, although a large dropout among controls rendered the difference ‘negligible’.
Medication use
Eleven trials contributed data to the meta-analysis of medication use.
Nine trials contributed continuous data, seven as medication counts27,39 or cost,26,35,36,38,41 one calculated days of medication use,29 and the last predicted medication use and associated costs using an algorithm.41 The overall effect showed a just significant reduction in medication use in favour of the intervention: SMD = −0.32 (95% CI = −0.60 to −0.05); z = 2.28, P = 0.02. Heterogeneity was 86%. Two trials contributed event-related data on medication use, one as the number of patients taking pain medication,43 and one as the use of antidepressants, analgesics, or sleep medication.25 The combined effect showed no significant difference between groups: OR = 0.69 (95% CI = 0.25 to 1.91); z = 0.71, P = 0.47. Heterogeneity was moderate, at 33%.
Medical investigations
Three trials contributed data to the meta-analysis of medical investigations. Two reported the mean number of investigations,27,39 and one their costs.36 The overall effect showed no significant reduction between groups: SMD = −0.26 (95% CI = −0.74 to 0.23); z = 1.03, P = 0.3. Heterogeneity was high, at 76%. One study without usable data reported medical investigations30 with no difference in diagnostic procedures between groups.
Healthcare costs
Nine trials contributed data to the meta-analysis of healthcare costs. 6,26,27,32,36,37,38,41,46
One study46 included the cost of the intervention in the total healthcare costs, so it was subtracted for consistency with other trials in this analysis. The overall effect showed no difference in healthcare costs between groups: SMD = 0.17 (95% CI = −0.15 to 0.49); z = 1.04, P = 0.3. Heterogeneity was 90%. One study without usable data reported a greater reduction in healthcare costs for those receiving CBT than for controls.30