Publications by authors named "Egil Fors"

Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to investigate the prevalence of fibromyalgia (FM) using different diagnostic criteria among a clinical sample of 182 participants, both FM positive and negative.
  • Results showed varying diagnoses: 99 under ACR 1990, 108 under ACR 2016, and 110 under AAPT, with all three criteria effectively distinguishing FM cases from non-cases regarding tender point counts and other symptoms.
  • Significant differences were found in anxiety and depression symptoms based on the diagnostic criteria used, indicating that while FM symptoms were consistently identified across criteria, psychological symptoms varied.
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Fibromyalgia is a chronic disease that affects a considerable fraction of the global population, primarily women. Physical activity is often recommended as a tool to manage the symptoms. In this study, we tried to replicate a positive result of pain reduction through physical activity.

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Pain, a widespread challenge affecting daily life, is closely linked with psychological and social factors. While pain clearly influences daily function in those affected, the complete extent of its impact is not fully understood. Given the close connection between pain and psychosocial factors, a deeper exploration of these aspects is needed.

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Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore how early follow-up sessions (after 14 and 16 weeks of sick leave) with social insurance caseworkers was experienced by sick-listed workers, and how these sessions influenced their return-to-work process.

Methods: A qualitative interview study with sick-listed workers who completed two early follow-up sessions with caseworkers from the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration (NAV). Twenty-six individuals aged 30 to 60 years with a sick leave status of 50-100% participated in semi-structured interviews.

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Article Synopsis
  • The 'Oslo Chronic Fatigue Consortium' challenges the belief that chronic fatigue syndromes, like post-covid conditions, are untreatable diseases, offering a more hopeful perspective for patients.
  • The consortium suggests that symptoms are linked to the brain's response to various biological, psychological, and social factors rather than being tied to a specific illness, and emphasizes how perception of these symptoms can influence their persistence.
  • They advocate for a shift in approach from prolonged rest and isolation to encouraging patients to understand their symptoms differently and gradually resume normal activities, while also promoting open discussions that include recovered patients' insights.
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Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of motivational interviewing (MI) - a counselling approach offered by caseworkers at the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Administration (NAV) - on return to work (RTW) for individuals sick-listed for ≥8 weeks due to any diagnoses. MI was compared to usual case management and an active control during 12 months of follow-up.

Methods: In a randomized clinical trial with three parallel arms, participants were randomized to MI (N=257), usual case management (N=266), or an active control group (N=252).

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Return to work from long-term sick leave is influenced by personal and social factors, which can be measured by resilience, a construct that describe healthy adaptation against adversity. This study aimed to validate the validity and psychometric properties of the resilience scale for adults in a sample of long-term sick-listed individuals, and to investigate measurement invariance when compared with a university student sample. Confirmatory factor analysis was used on a sick-listed sample (n = 687) to identify the scale?s factor structure, and comparison with a university student sample (n = 241) was utilized to determine measurement invariance.

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Objectives: To evaluate if adding motivational interviewing (MI) or a stratified vocational advice intervention (SVAI) to usual case management (UC), reduced sickness absence over 6 months for workers on sick leave due to musculoskeletal disorders.

Methods: We conducted a three-arm parallel pragmatic randomised controlled trial including 514 employed workers (57% women, median age 49 (range 24-66)), on sick leave for at least 50% of their contracted work hours for ≥7 weeks. All participants received UC.

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Objectives: Chronic vulvar pain (CVP) is pain in the vulvar area exceeding three months of duration. Previous studies have reported a prevalence of 7-8% in the general population and observed an association between CVP and other chronic pain, affective disorders and early life stressors. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of CVP among gynecological outpatients and to explore its association with child sexual abuse, comorbid fibromyalgia and mental health.

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Purpose: Clinical research in primary care is relatively scarce. Practice-based research networks (PBRNs) are research infrastructures to overcome hurdles associated with conducting studies in primary care. In Norway, almost all 5.

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The pathophysiology of fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) remains elusive, leading to a lack of objective diagnostic criteria and targeted treatment. We globally evaluated immune system changes in FMS by conducting multiparametric flow cytometry analyses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and identified a natural killer (NK) cell decrease in patients with FMS. Circulating NK cells in FMS were exhausted yet activated, evidenced by lower surface expression of CD16, CD96, and CD226 and more CD107a and TIGIT.

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Objectives: The Fibromyalgia Survey Diagnostic Criteria-2016 (FSD-2016 criteria) were recently recommended for both clinical and research purposes. The present study aims to examine whether there is concordance between clinician-based and FSD-2016 criteria-based diagnoses of FM, and secondly, to examine how the illness severity and physical function relate to the criteria-based diagnosis among patients referred to a rheumatism hospital.

Methods: Participants with a clinician-based diagnosis of FM were included consecutively when referred to a patient education programme for patients with FM.

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Background: There is growing evidence that the kynurenine pathway is involved in the pathology of diseases related to the central nervous system (CNS), because of the neuroprotective or neurotoxic properties of certain metabolites, yet the role of each metabolite is not clear. The pathology of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Fibromyalgia (FM) is currently under investigation, and the overlapping symptoms such as depression suggest that the CNS may be involved. These symptoms may be driven by enhanced neurotoxicity and/or diminished neuroprotection.

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Background: There is considerable public interest in whether Europe is facing an opioid crisis comparable to the one in the United States and the contribution of opioid prescriptions for pain to a potential opioid crisis.

Methods: A task force of the European Pain Federation (EFIC) conducted a survey with its national chapter representatives on trends of opioid prescriptions and of drug-related emergency departments and substance use disorder treatment admissions and of deaths as proxies of opioid-related harms over the last 20 years.

Results: Data from 25 European countries were received.

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Article Synopsis
  • Chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain (CWP) is closely related to fibromyalgia and has a heritable component of 48%-54%, but its genetic factors are still unclear, prompting a genome-wide association study for insight.
  • The study involved 6,914 cases of CWP from the UK Biobank and aimed to validate findings in multiple European cohorts, focusing on genetic correlations and tissue specificity.
  • Results identified three significant genetic loci associated with CWP, with one locus showing strong replication, while another displayed a suggestive link; findings also highlighted the relevance of skeletal muscle in the condition's genetic background.
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To study whether standard cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and a shorter, interpersonal oriented cognitive behavioral therapy (I-CBT) can improve physical function and fatigue in patients diagnosed with mild to moderate chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in a multidisciplinary fatigue clinic. Consecutively 236 participants 18-62 years old meeting the Centre of Decease Control, CDC 1994 criteria, with a subsample also fulfilling the Canadian criteria for CFS, were randomly allocated to one of three groups. Two intervention groups received either 16 weeks of standard CBT or 8 weeks of I-CBT vs.

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Background: Knowledge about the psychosocial experiences of sick-listed workers in the first months of sick leave is sparse even though early interventions are recommended. The aim of this study was to explore psychosocial experiences of being on sick leave and thoughts about returning to work after 8-12 weeks of sickness absence.

Methods: Sixteen individuals at 9-13 weeks of sick leave participated in semi-structured individual interviews.

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Background: Part-time sick leave (PTSL) where sick-listed individuals work a percentage corresponding to their remaining work capabilities is often used to promote return to work. The effects of PTSL are uncertain due to participant selection on personal and social factors, which are not easily captured by evaluations that primarily rely on register-data. More knowledge of health-related, workplace and personal characteristics that influence the propensity to utilize PTSL is needed.

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Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate potential barriers and facilitators for implementing motivational interviewing (MI) as a return to work (RTW) intervention in a Norwegian social insurance setting. Methods A mixed-methods process evaluation was conducted alongside a randomized controlled trial involving MI sessions delivered by social insurance caseworkers. The study was guided by the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance framework using focus groups with the caseworkers.

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Comorbidity is common among long-term sick-listed and many prognostic factors for return to work (RTW) are shared across diagnoses. RTW interventions have small effects, possibly due to being averaged across heterogeneous samples. Identifying subgroups based on prognostic RTW factors independent of diagnoses might help stratify interventions.

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Background: In the past decades, behavioral medicine has attained global recognition. Due to its global reach, a critical need has emerged to consider whether the original definition of behavioral medicine is still valid, comprehensive, and inclusive, and to reconsider the main tasks and goals of the International Society of Behavioral Medicine (ISBM), as the umbrella organization in the field. The purpose of the present study was to (i) update the definition and scope of behavioral medicine and its defining characteristics; and (ii) develop a proposal on ISBM's main tasks and goals.

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