Welfare Benefits in Functional Somatic Disorders

NCT05611606 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: DanFunD welfare benefits
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 9,656
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

The objective of this observational study is to estimate the number of weeks of welfare benefits, i.e. sickness benefit, unemployment benefit and social assistance, for individuals with functional somatic disorders and compare them to

1. 1.healthy individuals, and
2. 2.individuals with severe physical disease.

Conditions

Fibromyalgia; Irritable Bowel Syndrome; Chronic Fatigue Syndrome; Bodily Distress Syndrome; Somatoform Disorders; Medically Unexplained Syndrome; Medically Unexplained Symptoms

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Sickness benefit

  Wellfare benefit disbursed to employed citizens being ill, unemployed citizens currently ill, citizens in activation programs currently ill, and citizens in flexible jobs but currently ill

  10-year period before and 5-year period after the day the participant participated in the DanFunD baseline investigation

• Unemployment benefit

  Welfare benefit disbursed to unemployed citizens who receive unemployment benefit (full or part time, during vacation or activation) together with citizens on social assistance who are deemed ready-to-work, only receiving social assistance because of unemployment, but having no entitlement to unemployment benefit.

  10-year period before and 5-year period after the day the participant participated in the DanFunD baseline investigation

• Social assistance

  A welfare payment administered by the municipal social service department and is allocated if citizens are unable to support themselves.

  10-year period before and 5-year period after the day the participant participated in the DanFunD baseline investigation

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• No transfer income/self-support

  10-year period before and 5-year period after the day the participant participated in the DanFunD baseline investigation

• Public retirement pension

  10-year period before and 5-year period after the day the participant participated in the DanFunD baseline investigation

• Emigration

  10-year period before and 5-year period after the day the participant participated in the DanFunD baseline investigation

• Death

  10-year period before and 5-year period after the day the participant participated in the DanFunD baseline investigation

Study Arms (1)

DanFunD baseline

Data from the DanFunD baseline cohort will be included (11). It comprises a total of 9,656 (33.7% of the invited participants) men and women aged 18-76 years born in Denmark and living in the Western part of greater Copenhagen. Individuals with FSD are identified by means of self-reported questionnaires (n=9,656) (2) and diagnostic research interviews (n=1,590) (12). Participants with FSD will be defined as follows: * FSD operationalised by the Bodily Distress Syndrome single- and multi-organ type will be defined with both self-reported questionnaires (14) and diagnostic interviews (3) * Three functional somatic syndromes, i.e. irritable bowel (15), chronic widespread pain (16), and chronic fatigue (17) will be defined with questionnaires. Severe physical disease will be defined as having received at least one of the following five diagnoses: Cancer, stroke, myocardial infarction, other heart disease, and obstructive pulmonary disease.

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 76 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

Participants were randomly drawn from the adult general Danish population by means of the the Danish Civil Registration system. The DanFunD baseline cohort comprises a total of 9,656 (33.7% of invited participants) men and women aged 18-76 years, born in Denmark, and living in the Western part of greater Copenhagen. All participants filled in questionnaires regarding physical symptoms and psychological factors, among others. A stratified subsample (n=2,450) of every tenth participant and every symptom high score participant on the DanFunD baseline symptom questionnaires were invited to participate in a diagnostic interview, the Research Interview for Functional somatic Disorders (RIFD), performed by trained family physicians (28); 1,590 (64.9%) accepted and participated in the interview.

You may qualify if:

• None

You may not qualify if:

• Not born in Denmark
• Not being a Danish citizen
• Pregnancy

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Aarhus: lead
• Center for Clinical Research and Prevention: collaborator

Related Publications (1)

• Petersen MW, Wellnitz KB, Carstensen TBW, Dantoft TM, Ornbol E, Bjerregaard AA, Jorgensen T, Fink P. Welfare benefit utilization for people with functional somatic disorder. A population-based cohort study. J Psychosom Res. 2025 Apr;191:112073. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2025.112073. Epub 2025 Feb 27.

  PMID: 40037070 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Fibromyalgia; Irritable Bowel Syndrome; Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic; Somatoform Disorders; Medically Unexplained Symptoms

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Muscular Diseases; Musculoskeletal Diseases; Rheumatic Diseases; Neuromuscular Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Colonic Diseases, Functional; Colonic Diseases; Intestinal Diseases; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Digestive System Diseases; Encephalomyelitis; Neuroinflammatory Diseases; Chronic Disease; Disease Attributes; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Mental Disorders; Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Per Fink, DMSc

  Aarhus University Hospital

  STUDY CHAIR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 3, 2022
• First Posted: November 10, 2022
• Study Start: November 10, 2011
• Primary Completion: June 30, 2015
• Study Completion: August 30, 2015
• Last Updated: December 5, 2022

Record last verified: 2022-10

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share