Welfare Benefits in Functional Somatic Disorders

Completed

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

• Registration Number: NCT05611606
• Lead Sponsor: University of Aarhus

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. healthy individuals, and

2. individuals with severe physical disease.

Detailed Description

Functional somatic disorders (FSD) are common conditions characterized by persistent patterns of physical symptoms that cannot be better explained by other physical or mental conditions (1). The conditions may cause severe impairment for the patients who present with reduced physical and mental health, lower social status, and poor labour market association (2-4).

In 2005, it was estimated that FSD accounted for 3% of hospitalizations and 10-20% of health care expenses in Denmark (5), and a newer Danish primary care study has shown patients with FSD to have higher annual health care costs compared with conventionally-defined conditions (6). In other countries, studies in clinical samples have shown increased direct and indirect health care costs of FSD (7, 8) showing a dose-response relationship with severity of the FSD (9). These studies into highly selected clinical samples may induce high risk of selection bias, and studies including random selected general population samples are therefore needed. One Canadian population-based study on health care costs of children, adolescents, and young adults with FSD also found increased health care use and costs for this group (10). Studies investigating the socioeconomic burden in terms of welfare benefits of FSD in an adult random sample from the general population are, however, lacking.

Objective To estimate the number of weeks of welfare benefits, i.e. sickness benefit, unemployment benefit and social assistance, for individuals with FSD and compare them to individuals without FSD and individuals with severe physical disease.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2011-11-10
• Primary Completion: 2015-06-30
• Study Completion: 2015-08-30
• Status Verified: 2022-10
• Study First Submitted: 2022-11-03
• Study First Submitted QC: 2022-11-03
• Study First Posted: 2022-11-10
• Last Update Submitted: 2022-12-01
• Last Update Posted: 2022-12-05

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 9656

Inclusion Criteria

• None

Exclusion Criteria

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

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Social assistance	10-year period before and 5-year period after the day the participant participated in the DanFunD baseline investigation	A welfare payment administered by the municipal social service department and is allocated if citizens are unable to support themselves.
Sickness benefit	10-year period before and 5-year period after the day the participant participated in the DanFunD baseline investigation	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
Unemployment benefit	10-year period before and 5-year period after the day the participant participated in the DanFunD baseline investigation	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.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Emigration	10-year period before and 5-year period after the day the participant participated in the DanFunD baseline investigation	Participant not resident in Denmark
No transfer income/self-support	10-year period before and 5-year period after the day the participant participated in the DanFunD baseline investigation	Individuals that do not receive welfare payments under the circumstances of sickness, unemployment, or social benefits. Including leave-of-absence schemes and grants from State Education Fund.
Death	10-year period before and 5-year period after the day the participant participated in the DanFunD baseline investigation	Participant dead
Public retirement pension	10-year period before and 5-year period after the day the participant participated in the DanFunD baseline investigation	Public retirement pension