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Medically Unexplained Symptoms: A Systematic Umbrella Review of Current Terminology and Reported Rationales.

A B Myles·A Ejova·R M J de Zoete·E Ghaemi Mahdavi·R M Roberts
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Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Toaddress current naming conventions for Medically Unexplained Symptoms (MUS) through a systematic umbrella review. The terminology used and the provided rationales were considered. METHODS: Registered with PROSPERO (CRD42024526020), this review searched 8 key databases, last on January 28, 2025. Reviews including medically unexplained symptoms (or synonym or subtype) in their systematic search terms were included (N=422). RESULTS: A total of 577 references to 111 terms were made across the reviews, with numerous reviews using the same overarching terms, including "functional" (n=233), "somatic" (or variants thereof, n=51), and "medically unexplained" (n=28). Thirty percent of terms (n=179) were to specific syndromes or terms that did not group together under an overarching term, suggesting substantial variability in terms, even though over 60% of authors were primarily associated with just 3 disciplines: medicine, allied health, and psychology. A subset of 23 reviews provided rationales, which were subjected to content analysis and a ROBIS (Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews) risk-of-bias assessment. This analysis showed that rationales tended to (1) highlight differences between psychological, psychiatric, and other medical fields (n=7); (2) focus on the patient perspective and patient-practitioner therapeutic relationship (n=10); or (3) follow broad and/or commonly used terms (n=7). DISCUSSION: The current landscape of terminology used for MUS remains varied, nuanced, and inconsistent between disciplines. Moving forward to a more universal language accepted and used by both patients and practitioners would aid in the diagnosis, management, and treatment of MUS.

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HumansMedically Unexplained SymptomsTerminology as TopicSomatoform Disordersfunctional disordersidiopathicmedically unexplained symptomspersistent physical symptomssomatic symptomsJournal ArticleSystematic Review

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A B Myles, A Ejova, R M J de Zoete, E Ghaemi Mahdavi, R M Roberts. 2026-10-01. Medically Unexplained Symptoms: A Systematic Umbrella Review of Current Terminology and Reported Rationales.. https://doi.org/10.1097/ajp.0000000000001396

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