title: Risk factors for unexplained symptoms after a disaster: a five-year longitudinal study in general practice.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) are a common reason to seek medical care. When presented to the general practitioner (GP), more than three-quarters of symptoms such as stomach ache, headache, and pain in bones and muscles cannot be explained by a medical disorder.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The authors examined the course of MUS presented to the GP in the 1 year before the disaster and in the 4 years after a disaster in order to study the risk factors for MUS.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were extracted from the electronic medical records of survivors and from a questionnaire (N=1,216).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although the mean number of MUS was significantly increased statistically in the first 2 years post-disaster, the increase was not clinically significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The authors identified several important risk factors, such as immigrant status and psychological problems, that are easy for GPs to recognize. Despite this, the sensitivity of the regression model was relatively low.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, the Netherlands. bellis.van.den.berg@rivm.nl
authors.forename: Bellis
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: van den Berg
authors.forename: C Joris
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Yzermans
authors.forename: Peter G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: van der Velden
authors.forename: Rebecca K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Stellato
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brunekreef
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lebret
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Grievink
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004190:Disasters; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires