title: Factitious hand disorders: review of 29 years of multidisciplinary care.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To improve our understanding of factitious hand disorders with a review of our experience over 29 years in a multidisciplinary hand center.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective chart review was performed to identify workers' compensation patients treated for factitious hand disorders in the multidisciplinary hand center between January 1981 and September 2010. Multidisciplinary evaluation at this center involved evaluation by hand surgeons, occupational therapists, and psychologists. Data collected include age, sex, race, educational level, clinical presentation, number of diagnostic tests, number of surgeries, time to referral to the multidisciplinary center, direct cost of care, psychological diagnosis, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, treatment modalities, and work status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 174 workers' compensation patients with factitious hand disorders. Presentation was used to classify patients into 1 of 4 categories: psychopathological dystonia, factitious edema, psychopathological complex regional pain syndrome, and factitious wound creation and manipulation. There were statistically significant differences between the 4 categories in demographics, utilization of medical resources, psychopathology, treatment modalities, and return-to-work status. Patients with factitious wounds were more educated, used more medical resources, demonstrated an angry or hostile profile, and experienced a lower return-to-work rate. Patients with dystonia were less educated, used less medical resources, demonstrated a hypochondriasis or depressed profile, and experienced a higher return-to-work rate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Treatment of factitious hand disorders remains frustrating and costly due to failure or recurrence after traditional approaches. This review is a large-scale examination of the factitious hand disorder population that demonstrates the unique pathology involved in each of the 4 categories. There is a specific association between the category of hand disorder and the underlying pathology and prognosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prognostic IV.
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA. eoconnor@mcw.edu
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: O'Connor
authors.forename: B K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Grunert
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Matloub
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Eldridge
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005162:Factitious Disorders / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006230:Hand Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011379:Prognosis; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D062707:Return to Work; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012652:Self Mutilation / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014942:Workers' Compensation / Q000191:economics*
keywords: Conversion; Munchausen syndrome; factitious disorders; malingering; somatoform disorders