Welfare benefit utilization for people with functional somatic disorder. A population-based cohort study 2025 Weinreich Petersen, Fink, et al

[Andy]

Highlights

• Studies on welfare benefit utilization in functional disorder (FSD) are lacking.
• This study used unique data from a general population-based cohort (DanFunD).
• Welfare benefits were sourced from nationwide registries over a 14-year period.
• People with FSD had significantly higher use of welfare benefits than controls.
• The negative impact of FSD highlights the need for timely diagnosis and treatment.

Abstract

Clinical studies indicate that functional somatic disorder (FSD), a condition characterized by persistent physical symptoms not attributable to other physical or mental conditions, imposes a high socioeconomic burden, but high-quality studies on its impact on welfare benefit utilization in the general population are lacking. This study investigated the use of sickness benefit, unemployment benefit, and disability pension for individuals with FSD using nationwide Danish registers.

This study included 9656 adults from the DanFunD study. FSD were identified via self-reported questionnaires and diagnostic interviews. Data on welfare benefits were sourced from The Danish Register for Evaluation of Marginalization, counting the mean number of weeks per year over 10 years before and 4 years after the DanFunD study. Analyses used sex- and age-adjusted regression with non-parametric bootstrap resampling (10,000 repetitions).

Compared to those without FSD, individuals with FSD received an annual average of 3.9 (95 % CI: 3.3–4.4) more weeks of sickness benefit, 1.3 (95 % CI: 1.0–1.6) more weeks of unemployment benefit, and 3.8 (95 % CI: 3.2–4.5) more weeks of disability pension in the 10 years before DanFunD. This pattern persisted in the 4 years after DanFunD and for those diagnosed by interviews. Individuals with questionnaire-defined FSD had higher welfare benefit use than individuals with other severe physical diseases.

Individuals with FSD use welfare benefits significantly more than those without FSD and those with other severe physical diseases. This study highlights FSD as a disabling condition with a substantial individual and societal impact, emphasizing the need for timely diagnosis and treatment.

Open access

 

[Andy]

"1. Background
Functional somatic disorder (FSD) is a common condition characterized by patterns of multiple persistent physical symptoms that cannot be better explained by other physical or mental conditions. The diagnosis can be established by a characteristic symptom pattern and considering relevant differential diagnoses [1]. The unifying diagnostic construct of bodily distress syndrome (BDS) may be used to operationalize the FSD diagnosis [2]. A range of other terms are also used for FSD such as irritable bowel, chronic widespread pain, chronic fatigue, and other functional somatic syndromes"

 

[Andy]

"2.3. Assessment of functional somatic disorders

People with FSD were identified using the self-reported BDS Checklist [16], including bothersome somatic symptoms experienced in the past 12 months. Additionally, a subsample of participants with a clinical diagnosis of FSD was identified using the RIFD interview conducted by three trained primary care physicians over the telephone to assess whether symptoms were due to FSD or another condition [12].

Irritable bowel was defined using the criteria by Kay and Jørgensen [22]; chronic widespread pain was defined using the American College of Rheumatology [23] and the definition by White et al. ([19]); and chronic fatigue was defined using the definition by Chalder et al. [21]. All of these validated self-reported questionnaires measured bothersome symptoms experienced in the past 12 months."

So CFS, "chronic fatigue", was defined using the Chalder Fatigue Questionnaire....

 

[bobbler]

Highlights

• Studies on welfare benefit utilization in functional disorder (FSD) are lacking.
• This study used unique data from a general population-based cohort (DanFunD).
• Welfare benefits were sourced from nationwide registries over a 14-year period.
• People with FSD had significantly higher use of welfare benefits than controls.
• The negative impact of FSD highlights the need for timely diagnosis and treatment.

Abstract

Clinical studies indicate that functional somatic disorder (FSD), a condition characterized by persistent physical symptoms not attributable to other physical or mental conditions, imposes a high socioeconomic burden, but high-quality studies on its impact on welfare benefit utilization in the general population are lacking. This study investigated the use of sickness benefit, unemployment benefit, and disability pension for individuals with FSD using nationwide Danish registers.

This study included 9656 adults from the DanFunD study. FSD were identified via self-reported questionnaires and diagnostic interviews. Data on welfare benefits were sourced from The Danish Register for Evaluation of Marginalization, counting the mean number of weeks per year over 10 years before and 4 years after the DanFunD study. Analyses used sex- and age-adjusted regression with non-parametric bootstrap resampling (10,000 repetitions).

Compared to those without FSD, individuals with FSD received an annual average of 3.9 (95 % CI: 3.3–4.4) more weeks of sickness benefit, 1.3 (95 % CI: 1.0–1.6) more weeks of unemployment benefit, and 3.8 (95 % CI: 3.2–4.5) more weeks of disability pension in the 10 years before DanFunD. This pattern persisted in the 4 years after DanFunD and for those diagnosed by interviews. Individuals with questionnaire-defined FSD had higher welfare benefit use than individuals with other severe physical diseases.

Individuals with FSD use welfare benefits significantly more than those without FSD and those with other severe physical diseases. This study highlights FSD as a disabling condition with a substantial individual and societal impact, emphasizing the need for timely diagnosis and treatment.

Open access

Except they fail to mention I assume many were as poorly as they were due to their treatment being harmful in top of the illness, where other physical illnesses got something that actually helped rather than harmed?

it’s so naughty the classic conveniently pretending these are people who just need their ‘cure’ when it’s that very regime of the decade plus that has been run by these people stopping useful help and enforcing something that has caused people to get worse that needs to take responsibility for the long term damage they’ve done - more of that will surely cause more damage even if there is a ceiling on their level of severity they differentiate so perhaps the only ones who care are the patient and those close if they go from extreme disabled to even more.

if it were not for short term ism (political cycle for example meaning working for six months longer making someone disabled forever more vs a step back allowing longevity at lower hours is preferable because several years ahead doesn’t matter) being allowed and poor accounting to hide numbers governments would/should care that people who might have been mild and had some of a life are forced through things that within a few years leaves them long term severe and not able to even be independent. It’s shocking

and on top of this cost to the person and loss to society people forget these individuals were making a lot of money and building kingdoms from this propaganda the whole time - worse than a waste when it is harmful and it certainly isn’t cheap

the sleight of hand is quite hard to watch after over a decade of them doing this and trying to blame the mess they made worse and were paid for as if paying them more to do more of the same would be ‘a change’ or a good thing

 

[Sean]

Clinical studies indicate that functional somatic disorder (FSD), a condition characterized by persistent physical symptoms not attributable to other physical or mental conditions,

Note the way they frame it. They do not quite explicitly say that they can never be explained by physical or mental factors, and do not explore the implications of that. Instead they say that they are "not attributable to other physical or mental conditions".

But nobody said they were. It is a complete strawman. What is being said is that we need to consider the possibility of as yet unknown primary processes at work.

imposes a high socioeconomic burden,

Which is the hook they use to catch the attention of the government policy makers and private insurance companies.

Look how much these [non-diagnoses that we invented out of thin air] cost you! If you give us more money and power we can come up with even better arse-covering payment-avoiding excuses for you.​

So CFS, "chronic fatigue", was defined using the Chalder Fatigue Questionnaire....

And the other definitions used were not any better.