Functional Somatic Disorders: Understanding the patients experience of patient-physician communication

Conditions such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Post-Viral Illness and Medically Unexplained Symptoms cause high rates of disability and impact the lives of millions of Canadians. Many doctors find it difficult to explain these conditions to patients and this can lead to misunderstandings and frustrations for patients and doctors. There is little guidance for doctors on how to best explain these conditions because there is relatively little research in the area. Particularly, there is a lack of focus on understanding the patient point of view when studying these communication breakdowns. Better understanding of the patients' experiences will help to identify the best ways for doctors to discuss these conditions with their patients. This project has three parts, each of which will help doctors better understand the patient experience of communicating about these conditions. First, I will create a review article covering the research that has been done so far. Review articles help doctors understand what is known so far and highlights questions not already answered in previous studies, which can then be studied. Second, I will do a survey of patients with post-COVID-19 symptoms, a type of post-viral illness, looking to help doctors understand how these symptoms impact patients' lives. Third, I will do interviews with patients to explore the patients' experience and what influences communication between doctors and patients. These interviews will help provide support for guidelines to help doctors improve the way they discuss these conditions with patients. Altogether, it is expected that the results of this project will help improve communication between doctors and patients with these type of conditions.