Measuring change in individuals with FNSD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Measuring change in individuals with Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder.
IRAS ID
292166
Contact name
Joy Adewusi
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 31 days
Research summary
Functional Neurological Symptom Disorders (FNSD) are one of the commonest reasons why patients are referred to neurologists. They are as disabling as neurological disorders and cause symptoms that are superficially similar to those of neurological diseases associated with more readily demonstrable pathophysiological or structural changes, however, FNSD are more commonly associated with psychiatric comorbidities. Psychotherapy is one of the main treatments for FNSD although there is still a dearth of reliable evidence that it works for patients with FNSD or how it may help. This is partly due to the fact that the effectiveness of psychotherapeutic interventions is difficult to study but also to the difficulties associated with measuring outcomes in a highly aetiologically and clinically heterogeneous patient population. This study contributes to a larger research project examining the efficacy of specialist psychotherapy for patients with FNSD. Different strands of this research are utilising a range of approaches including objective cognitive and behavioural measures and subsequently exploring the reliability and usefulness of different outcome measurement approaches in this patient group. The present study primarily aims to assess whether and how psychotherapy is useful in improving emotion dysregulation and negative bias in patients with FNSD.
REC name
London - Riverside Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/PR/0398
Date of REC Opinion
2 May 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion