Austin Health

Title
Conversion disorder: A systematic review of current terminology.
Publication Date
2017-03
Author(s)
Ding, Juen Mei
Kanaan, Richard A A
Subject
Conversion disorder
Dissociative disorder
Functional neurological disorder
Patient perspective
Psychogenic
Terminology
Type of document
Journal Article
OrcId
0000-0003-0992-1917
DOI
10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2016.12.009
Abstract
It has been argued that the label given to unexplained neurological symptoms is an important contributor to their often poor acceptance, and there has been recent debate on proposals to change the name from conversion disorder. There have been multiple studies of layperson and clinician preference and this article aimed to review these. Multiple databases were searched using terms including "conversion disorder" and "terminology", and relative preferences for the terms extracted. Seven articles were found which looked at clinician or layperson preferences for terminology for unexplained neurological symptoms. Most neurologists favoured terms such as "functional" and "psychogenic", while laypeople were comfortable with "functional" but viewed "psychogenic" as more offensive; "non-epileptic/organic" was relatively popular with both groups. "Functional" is a term that is relatively popular with both clinicians and the public. It also meets more of the other criteria proposed for an acceptable label than other popular terms - however the views of neither psychiatrists nor actual patients with the disorder were considered.
Link
Citation
General hospital psychiatry 2017; 45: 51-55
Jornal Title
General hospital psychiatry

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