The Pilot of the Turku Outpatient Clinic for Functional and Fatigue Disorders (TOCliFFD)

Turku University Hospital (TYKS)

Status: Active, not recruiting

Conditions: Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic; Functional Disorder; Persistent Physical Symptoms (PPS)

Treatments: Behavioral: Biopsychosocial, multidisciplinary, and individually tailored rehabilitation for patients with persisten symptoms

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07272148

T1398-2023-2

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study examined 125 working-age patients from the Turku Outpatient Clinic for Functional and Fatigue Disorders. "Patients participate in the clinic's biopsychosocial, multidisciplinary, and individually tailored rehabilitation. The aim of the rehabilitation is to improve patients' functional capacity and provide them with tools to manage and cope with their symptoms. In addition, the goal is to break the cycle of unnecessary examinations that cause harm to the patient. Socioeconomic data, as well as information related to functional capacity, symptoms, and quality of life, are collected from patients at the start of rehabilitation and again at six and twelve months after the beginning of rehabilitation. In addition, data on patients' use of social and health care services are requested from registers for the year preceding the start of rehabilitation and for the year following rehabilitation.

Enrollment: 125 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 66 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• patients suffering persistent symptoms
• referred to the clinic between August 1, 2023 to April 30, 2025

Exclusion criteria

• ineligible for the study because of the need for extensive additional examinations in a specialized field, acute substance abuse problems, and/or lack of motivation.

Trial design

125 participants in 1 patient group

Patients suffering persistent symptoms

Description:

The clinic's staff included a pilot project coordinator, a physician, an occupational therapist, a physiotherapist, a psychologist, a rehabilitation counselor, and a ward secretary. At the physician's initial visit, stress system sensitization, burden factors, and need for symptomatic medication were assessed. In a joint rehabilitation team meeting, the patient met a psychologist, occupational therapist, physiotherapist, and rehabilitation counselor, who conducted a multidisciplinary evaluation and created an individualized rehabilitation plan. Patients then attended a course for persistent bodily symptoms, with some joining a psychophysical breathing group. Individual rehabilitation or counseling was provided according to each patient's needs.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Biopsychosocial, multidisciplinary, and individually tailored rehabilitation for patients with persisten symptoms