Validation of the Persistent Somatic Symptom Stigma Scale for Healthcare Professionals.

Objectives: Persistent somatic symptoms (PSS) describe recurrent or continuously occurring symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, or pain that have persisted for at least several months. These include single symptoms such as chronic pain, combinations of symptoms, or functional disorders such as fibromyalgia or irritable bowel syndrome. While many studies have explored stigmatisation by healthcare professionals toward people with PSS, there is a lack of validated measurement instruments.

Stigmatisation in clinical consultations for persistent physical symptoms/functional disorders: A best fit framework synthesis.

Introduction: Stigma is a social attribute that links a person to an undesirable characteristic and leads to actions that increase the social distance from that person. This includes different or discriminatory treatment. Stigma is common in healthcare, particularly in people with persistent physical symptoms (PPS) and functional disorders (FD).

Measuring persistent somatic symptom related stigmatisation: Development of the Persistent Somatic Symptom Stigma scale for Healthcare Professionals (PSSS-HCP).

Objective: Persistent somatic symptoms (PSS) describe recurrent or continuously occurring symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, or pain that have persisted for at least several months. These include single symptoms such as chronic pain, combinations of symptoms, or functional disorders such as fibromyalgia or irritable bowel syndrome. While stigmatisation by healthcare professionals is regularly reported, there are limited measurement instruments demonstrating content validity.

How stigma unfolds for patients with Functional Neurological Disorder.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore experiences of stigma in Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) from the perspective of the patient as it manifests from the onset of symptoms, up to diagnosis and subsequently.

Background: The existing literature clearly shows that stigma exists for many patients with FND, and is associated with poorer quality of life. However, it is less clear how stigma unfolds, and how it can be alleviated.

Persistent somatic symptom related stigmatisation by healthcare professionals: A systematic review of questionnaire measurement instruments.

Objective: Patients with persistent somatic symptoms (PSS) experience stigmatising attitudes and behaviours by healthcare professionals. While previous research has focussed on individual manifestations of PSS related stigma, less is known about sound ways to measure stigmatisation by healthcare professionals towards patients with PSS. This review aims to assess the quality of questionnaire measurement instruments and make recommendations about their use.