1. Sign our petition calling on Cochrane to withdraw their review of Exercise Therapy for 'CFS'.
    Dismiss Notice
  2. Guest, the 'News in Brief' for the week beginning 21st April 2025 is here.
    Dismiss Notice
  3. Welcome! Read the Core Purpose and Values of our forum.
    Dismiss Notice

Review Incidence and prevalence of functional neurological disorder: a systematic review, 2024, Finkelstein, Diamond, Carson, Stone

Discussion in 'Other psychosomatic news and research' started by SNT Gatchaman, Dec 12, 2024.

Tags:
  1. SNT Gatchaman

    SNT Gatchaman Senior Member (Voting Rights) Staff Member

    Messages:
    6,688
    Location:
    Aotearoa New Zealand
    Incidence and prevalence of functional neurological disorder: a systematic review
    Sara A Finkelstein; Clare Diamond; Alan Carson; Jon Stone

    BACKGROUND
    Robust epidemiological data regarding population incidence and prevalence of functional neurological disorder (FND) would be helpful with regards to resource allocation and planning for this disorder, particularly given high symptom burden and high healthcare utilisation. We therefore aimed to systematically review and synthesise available data on FND incidence and prevalence.

    METHODS
    PubMed was searched to identify original research articles that reported on the incidence or prevalence of FND. Risk of bias assessment for each study was conducted. Incidence and prevalence rates of FND were additionally estimated by extrapolating data from low risk of bias studies on functional seizures alone.

    RESULTS
    Thirty-nine articles were included. Nineteen reported on FND incidence, 21 reported on prevalence. Comparison between studies was difficult due to methodological differences and significant heterogeneity of incidence and prevalence estimates was found. The incidence of FND was estimated at 10–22/100 00, while minimum prevalence of FND was estimated at 80–140/100 000, with a possible range of 50–1600/100 000. Incidence of paediatric FND was estimated to be between 1 and 18/100 000.

    CONCLUSIONS
    The range of incidence and prevalence varies widely across studies, with significant heterogeneity among studies and most studies likely provide underestimates due to methodological challenges. However, using our best method as a conservative estimate, there are likely a minimum of 50–100 000 people with FND in the UK, as an example country. Given that FND appears to be more prevalent than many other well-known and well-funded neurological disorders, incidence and prevalence data suggested here indicate the need for greater research and clinical funding allocation to FND programmes.


    Link | PDF (Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry) [Open Access]
     
    SNT Gatchaman, Dec 12, 2024
    #1
    Kitty, Peter Trewhitt and Hutan like this.
  2. Jonathan Edwards

    Jonathan Edwards Senior Member (Voting Rights)

    Messages:
    17,060
    Location:
    London, UK
    So FND is quite uncommon at about one person in 1000, which is fairly credible for movement disorders without a structural explanation.

    It tends to suggest that claims of flooding of neurology clinics are inflated.
     
    Jonathan Edwards, Dec 12, 2024
    #2
    Kitty, Snow Leopard, alktipping and 6 others like this.
  3. dave30th

    dave30th Senior Member (Voting Rights)

    Messages:
    2,668
    If they were honest, they would cite the published letter to the journal NeuroImage: Clinical, in which several of us, including Jo, pointed out how they have inflated their statistics for years.
     
    dave30th, Dec 15, 2024
    #3
    Kitty, Missense, SNT Gatchaman and 6 others like this.
  4. dave30th

    dave30th Senior Member (Voting Rights)

    Messages:
    2,668
    Just to be clear, they're excluding functional cognitive disorder and PPPD (dizziness) from this group, since they have only recently decided to add those categories to the FND umbrella. Given that cognitive disorders and dizziness from OI etc are common long covid symptoms, it's not surprising these folks look and Long Covid and see FND.
     
    dave30th, Dec 15, 2024
    #4
    Kitty, Snow Leopard, Missense and 6 others like this.
  5. Yann04

    Yann04 Senior Member (Voting Rights)

    Messages:
    2,065
    Location:
    Romandie (Switzerland)
    What’s worrying me is that the long COVID clinics in my area has started auto referring anyone with disabling symptoms to an FND clinic.
     
    Yann04, Dec 15, 2024
    #5
    Kitty, Missense, SNT Gatchaman and 6 others like this.
  6. dave30th

    dave30th Senior Member (Voting Rights)

    Messages:
    2,668
    where is this? You mean the LC won’t see patients with symptoms? Who goes there in that case?
     
    dave30th, Dec 16, 2024
    #6
    Sean, alktipping, Peter Trewhitt and 1 other person like this.
  7. Yann04

    Yann04 Senior Member (Voting Rights)

    Messages:
    2,065
    Location:
    Romandie (Switzerland)
    Lausanne University (CHUV) Long COVID clinic.

    They refer anyone with brain fog or “unexplained” disability to the memory clinic which is a run by a neurologist who basically diagnoses anything and everything unexplained as FND.

    The long COVID clinic will still see you but only after you go to the referrals they set up for you.

    For me for example they stopped seeing me because I tried to go to all the referrals they set up for me and a mix of bad doctors (FND diagnosis) and just generally overdoing it meant I became bedridden and couldn’t make it to appointments anymore. (They don’t offer virtual and are the only long COVID clinic in my state, so that was kind of the end of my interaction with the medical system, been “missing” since then).
     
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2024
    Yann04, Dec 16, 2024
    #7
    Sean, Peter Trewhitt, alktipping and 2 others like this.

Share This Page