Objective. To determine whether having a condition of unknown medical cause contributes to perceived stigma in individuals with functional somatic syndromes (FSS). / Methods. Subjects in three FSS groups, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), fibromyalgia (FM), and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), were matched to medical control groups. Self-report measures were used to collect sociodemographic information, and rates of depression, physical functioning, and perceived stigma. / Results. Having the FSS was associated with perceived stigma in CFS compared to the medical control group, and remained an independent predictor when controlling for depression and physical functioning on multivariate analysis. These effects were not seen in FM or IBS compared to medical control groups. / Conclusions. The ambiguity of having a medically unexplained syndrome may contribute to perceived stigma in CFS. The absence of this effect in FM and IBS may reflect a greater acceptance of FM and IBS as medical conditions.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.33800 |
| Date | January 2002 |
| Creators | Looper, Karl J. |
| Contributors | Kirmayer, Laurence (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Science (Department of Psychiatry.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001864008, proquestno: MQ78917, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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