Managing Persistent Physical Symptoms With Your Doctor: A Coordinated Care Guide
Author: Angela Bogdanova · Published: October 12, 2026 · Editorial Policy
Research cluster: Somatic Symptom & Functional Disorders · Written by Artificial Sapiens
Persistent physical symptoms deserve continuous, coordinated medical care. A symptom can be real, disabling, and worthy of treatment even when a single test or diagnosis does not explain its full course. The practical goal is to combine an appropriate medical evaluation with a stable clinical relationship, a shared care plan, symptom-specific treatment, and a clear process for reassessing changes.
This guide explains how to prepare for appointments, discuss uncertainty, decide which tests or referrals are useful, coordinate clinicians, monitor function, and recognize circumstances that require prompt attention. It is intended for adults and caregivers seeking informed conversations with qualified health professionals. Individual assessment and treatment depend on the symptom pattern and medical history.
What are persistent physical symptoms?
Persistent physical symptoms (PPS) are bodily complaints—such as fatigue, pain, dizziness, nausea, palpitations, weakness, or cognitive difficulties—that continue or recur over months and may disrupt daily life. The term describes a clinical problem and a need for care; it does not establish a single cause or psychiatric diagnosis. A major 2024 Lancet review uses PPS broadly for distressing symptoms lasting several months or longer regardless of cause.
Some people have a documented medical condition that accounts for part or all of their symptoms. Others have several interacting conditions, evolving pathology, functional symptoms, medication effects, or symptoms for which the current evaluation yields an incomplete explanation. A previously normal blood test, scan, or examination is evidence about the questions those investigations can answer. It cannot prove that every possible cause has been excluded.
Persistent physical symptoms may arise after an infection, injury, medical illness, or other life event, or they may develop without a clear starting point. Their duration and impact warrant attention to sleep, daily functioning, mood, social circumstances, medication exposure, physical capacity, and relevant organ-system findings. Clinicians should assess each domain without assuming that one domain explains all others.
Why coordinated care matters
People with persistent symptoms often see primary care clinicians, medical specialists, rehabilitation professionals, and mental health professionals over time. Fragmented care can generate conflicting explanations, duplicate testing, medication interactions, delayed follow-up, and a sense that nobody owns the overall plan. A coordinated approach gives one clinician or team responsibility for integrating results, monitoring change, and making referrals purposeful.
Coordination does not mean forcing every symptom into one diagnosis. It means ensuring that each clinical question has an owner, each referral has a reason, and the patient knows what happens next. An international 2024 Delphi study on collaborative care networks identified a shared vision, individualized pathways, and appropriately experienced clinicians as leading proposed quality indicators. These are expert-derived indicators; their effects on patient outcomes still require evaluation.
A separate 2024 implementation study identified practical barriers and proposed strategies involving communication, joint consultations, care pathways, and patient involvement. These findings support improving systems of care, while the effectiveness of specific implementation packages remains under study.
Choose a regular point of contact and agree on responsibilities
For many patients, a primary care physician, family physician, internist, or appropriately qualified primary care clinician can act as the coordinating professional. Someone living with a complex neurological, inflammatory, or multisystem condition may also need a specialist lead. What matters is an explicit agreement about who reviews the whole picture.
Ask who will interpret new test results, reconcile medications, receive specialist letters, renew prescriptions, track unresolved referrals, and decide when further evaluation is appropriate. Ask who to contact between visits if symptoms change, whether the practice offers an online portal or nurse advice, and how urgent concerns should be routed.
A useful shared plan names the lead clinician, participating specialists, the working diagnoses and uncertainties, priority symptoms, current treatments, measurable goals, follow-up timing, and warning signs. Keep a copy accessible to you and, with permission, any caregiver involved. The NICE shared decision-making guideline recommends agreeing on a care plan, documenting what matters to the patient, defining when decisions will be reviewed, and providing clear information about whom to contact.
Prepare a one-page clinical summary before your visit
A concise summary helps clinicians see the course of illness instead of having to reconstruct it during a short appointment. Include when symptoms began, their usual pattern, important changes, and what makes them better or worse. Record how symptoms affect work, school, household tasks, relationships, mobility, concentration, sleep, and self-care.
Bring a list of current diagnoses, previous serious illnesses, surgeries, allergies, tests and dates, and major findings. Include all prescribed medications, over-the-counter medicines, supplements, and recent medication changes, along with any suspected adverse effects. If available, bring hospital discharge summaries and the most relevant specialist reports rather than an unsorted archive of documents.
Identify your two or three highest priorities. For example: “My dizziness is preventing me from standing at work,” “I want to understand what the normal scan did and did not rule out,” or “I need a plan for what to do when symptoms change.” Specific priorities make it easier to design a useful consultation. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality patient-engagement guidance supports appointment preparation, accurate medication lists, teach-back, and collaborative handoffs as patient-safety practices.
How to describe symptoms precisely
Describe the location, sensation, onset, severity, timing, duration, frequency, associated symptoms, and functional consequences. Note patterns such as symptoms on standing, after eating, during sleep, following exertion, or after a medication change. Include objective observations if they are available, while recognizing that symptoms can be clinically important without a measurable abnormality on a particular day.
For fluctuating symptoms, a short diary may help reveal a pattern. Record only information that changes decisions: date, activity, important symptom change, recovery time, and medicines taken. Constant monitoring can increase distress and absorb a large part of daily life, particularly when illness fears or checking habits become prominent. Agree with your clinician on what to record, for how long, and what would trigger a call.
Build a diagnostic plan without treating uncertainty as failure
A good diagnostic conversation distinguishes what is established, what is reasonably suspected, what has been investigated, and what remains open. Ask your clinician to explain the leading possibilities and how each fits the clinical history, physical examination, and existing test results.
Testing should be directed by symptoms, examination findings, risks, medical history, and the diagnostic question. Repeated broad testing without a clear clinical indication can produce incidental findings, additional procedures, anxiety, cost, and delayed care. Conversely, new objective abnormalities, changes in pattern, or warning signs can justify further investigation even after an earlier thorough assessment.
Questions worth asking include: “What does this result tell us?” “What important possibilities remain?” “What findings would change your assessment?” “Would repeating this test change treatment?” and “When should we review the diagnosis?” A decision to defer a test should be paired with a safety-net plan, including specific symptoms that would make testing or specialist assessment appropriate.
The 2024 Lancet review emphasizes treating identifiable disease processes while using person-centered communication and individualized symptom management. A 2026 primary care narrative review and consensus paper offers a clinical framework for symptom explanation and recovery planning; it should be read as expert synthesis rather than definitive trial evidence for any single pathway.
Persistent symptoms are not automatically somatic symptom disorder
Persistent physical symptoms are a description, whereas somatic symptom disorder (SSD) is a specific DSM-5-TR clinical diagnosis. SSD requires a pattern involving one or more distressing physical symptoms and disproportionate or excessive symptom-related thoughts, feelings, or behaviors in the relevant diagnostic context. A medical disease may be present alongside SSD. Duration, severity, normal tests, numerous appointments, or symptoms that are difficult to explain do not independently establish SSD.
Health anxiety is another distinct concern. Worry about health can be proportionate to uncertainty or illness; illness anxiety disorder has its own clinical requirements. Reassurance seeking can be prominent in illness anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder, with important differences in their presentations. For more detail on the differential, see our published OCD vs. illness anxiety disorder guide. A care plan for persistent symptoms should never hinge on whether the person accepts a psychiatric label.
Functional neurological disorder (FND) involves neurological symptoms evaluated through relevant clinical history and context-appropriate positive examination signs. A clinician's inability to find a structural lesion is not, by itself, a sufficient basis for FND. Symptoms may coexist with neurological and other medical disorders, and emerging symptoms must still be assessed. Coordinating care across specialties is especially important when presentations overlap.
DSM-5-TR somatic symptom disorder and ICD-11 bodily distress disorder also follow distinct classification frameworks and should not be used as automatic synonyms. This guide concerns navigating care across diagnoses; condition-specific criteria and treatments belong in their dedicated clinical articles.
Communicate clearly when you feel unheard
Patients sometimes describe feeling dismissed when clinicians focus on inconclusive testing but do not address disability or suffering. A useful response is to return the conversation to the clinical task: “I understand the available tests have not identified a single explanation. What is our plan to improve functioning, monitor this symptom, and recognize a significant change?”
Ask the clinician to state their working understanding in plain language, including uncertainty. You can say, “Please explain what supports that conclusion,” or “I would like the note to reflect how the symptoms affect my daily activities.” A study of patient communication preferences found that acknowledgement and concrete management recommendations were commonly described as helpful. Its specific study population limits generalization, but its findings highlight the practical importance of validation and clarity.
Bring a trusted person if you want support taking notes, asking questions, or remembering the plan. If language, hearing, vision, cognitive difficulties, or health literacy make consultations harder, request professional interpretation or accessible written instructions. Ask for a visit summary and use teach-back: explain the next steps in your own words and invite the clinician to correct anything unclear. AHRQ guidance describes teach-back as a method of checking communication, rather than testing the patient.
Decide together what treatment is intended to change
Treatment can pursue several outcomes at once: addressing confirmed disease, relieving a specific symptom, reducing complications, restoring meaningful activities, improving sleep, and supporting psychological well-being. Define which goal belongs to which intervention. This keeps care accountable even when a symptom does not disappear immediately.
A treatment plan can combine appropriate medication, targeted physical or occupational therapy, sleep interventions, disease-specific medical treatment, psychological therapy, accessibility supports, and social or workplace adjustments. The choice depends on the condition, contraindications, patient preferences, resources, and clinician expertise. The NICE shared decision-making recommendations support an explicit discussion of benefits, harms, alternatives, and what matters most to the individual.
Psychological therapy may be useful for coping with ongoing symptoms, disability, fear, avoidance, or symptom-related distress. It can also be a condition-specific intervention when supported by relevant evidence. Accepting therapy says nothing about whether symptoms are genuine or medically caused. A systematic review and meta-analysis of psychological interventions for PPS found some benefit for somatic symptoms and depressive symptoms across heterogeneous studies, while effects on anxiety were less consistent. These results do not justify promising a cure or substituting psychotherapy for needed medical treatment.
Medication decisions need a defined target, monitoring interval, review of interactions, and an agreement about what would count as benefit or harm. A new medication can itself produce fatigue, dizziness, nausea, or cognitive complaints. Review all medicines and supplements periodically. Do not abruptly stop or change prescribed treatments without the prescribing clinician's guidance.
Rehabilitation and activity must fit the condition
A rehabilitation goal may involve safer mobility, reducing deconditioning, restoring participation, adapting work, or learning ways to function within current limitations. Progress can be measured through everyday tasks rather than symptom scores alone. Treatment intensity needs to reflect diagnoses, physiological limitations, recovery patterns, and individual response.
One activity prescription does not fit all persistent symptoms. In particular, people with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) or some presentations of Long COVID can experience post-exertional malaise—a delayed, sometimes prolonged worsening after exertion. CDC clinical guidance recommends individualized pacing for ME/CFS rather than pushing beyond a person's energy limits. These restrictions must be considered before prescribing graded activity. The NICE ME/CFS guideline likewise has condition-specific restrictions on activity programs.
Chronic pain, vestibular symptoms, autonomic dysfunction, functional motor symptoms, and postinfectious conditions may require different specialist assessments and rehabilitation strategies. For example, symptoms triggered by standing may warrant evaluation of orthostatic physiology; they should not automatically be framed as anxiety. Distinct condition-specific treatment pathways belong with their respective specialties and diagnosis-focused resources.
Follow-up appointments make the plan safer and more useful
Regular review gives both patient and clinician a predictable opportunity to discuss changes without requiring each flare to become an entirely new diagnostic search. Agree on a realistic interval based on severity, diagnostic uncertainty, treatments being adjusted, and personal circumstances. There is no universal evidence-based appointment schedule for all persistent symptoms.
At follow-up, review four questions: What has changed? What has helped or harmed? What matters most for function now? What clinical findings would change the next step? If a treatment has not met its intended goal, revise it rather than continuing indefinitely by habit.
Discuss whether the provisional diagnosis still fits. Review outstanding tests, medication effects, missed referrals, new family history, and new symptoms. A stable care relationship should make reassessment easier. Cochrane's review of consultation letters for unexplained physical symptoms describes evidence and historical recommendations concerning structured primary care contact, while the quality and applicability of older interventions should be considered rather than treated as a universal formula.
How to track improvement
Choose a small number of outcomes that matter to you: uninterrupted sleep, number of workable hours, ability to attend school, standing tolerance, recovery after activity, frequency of severe episodes, or capacity to prepare meals. These measures do not invalidate symptom intensity. They reveal whether the care plan is enabling meaningful participation.
Use symptom intensity scales only when they help inform decisions. A temporary increase in symptoms does not invariably mean that treatment has failed, and a modest improvement in function does not prove a suspected diagnosis was correct. Review trends and tradeoffs with your clinician.
Coordinate specialists without duplicating the entire investigation
Before a referral, ask what question the specialist is being asked to answer: confirm or reconsider a diagnosis, evaluate a specific new sign, recommend treatment, or assist with rehabilitation. Bring a concise record of previous investigations and what remains uncertain. After the visit, confirm who will act on recommendations and who will contact you about results.
When advice conflicts, request direct clinician-to-clinician communication or a joint review rather than independently reconciling contradictory medication or rehabilitation instructions. Consent-based sharing of clinical summaries, medication lists, and investigation results can help. An electronic record is valuable, but it does not guarantee that every professional has read the information.
Second opinions are reasonable when serious questions remain unresolved, clinical findings have changed, or the patient and care team cannot agree on a workable path. A focused question and complete records make another opinion more useful. A second opinion is most productive when it clarifies a decision rather than simply restarts every investigation.
What if symptoms worsen or new symptoms appear?
An existing diagnosis, including a functional or somatic symptom diagnosis, does not automatically explain a new symptom. Ask your clinician to document what changes require contact before the next planned appointment. Warning signs depend on the organ system, medical history, age, and current treatments.
Seek emergency medical care for possible stroke symptoms such as sudden facial drooping, new one-sided weakness, or speech difficulty; severe or new chest pain with concerning associated symptoms; severe difficulty breathing; sudden loss of consciousness; prolonged or repeated convulsive episodes; or other immediately life-threatening changes. New severe headache, rapidly progressive weakness, major bleeding, or signs of serious infection may also need urgent assessment. Local emergency instructions and clinician-specific advice take precedence.
When a symptom is new but not clearly an emergency, contact the treating team promptly to describe what has changed, how quickly, and whether it is affecting essential functioning. Do not defer urgent evaluation because previous tests were normal or because past symptoms have been called functional. If uncertain about urgency, use a local urgent-care or nurse-triage service.
When stress, anxiety, or trauma are part of the picture
Stress, sleep disruption, attention, fear, and interpersonal circumstances can influence bodily experience and coping. Their relevance should be assessed in the context of the person's actual health conditions and life circumstances. A 2024 Lancet review examines a range of biological and psychosocial factors that may contribute to persistence, without making any one factor a universal cause.
Anxiety about health can lead to repetitive checking, frequent reassurance requests, or avoidance of medical appointments. These behaviors can become care targets if they increase suffering. They should be discussed compassionately and in light of genuine medical risks. Our separate article on neuroticism and health anxiety covers a different psychological question; it is not a substitute for medical assessment.
A history of adversity or trauma may matter clinically, particularly when the patient finds it relevant. Trauma is neither a prerequisite for functional neurological symptoms nor a justification for assuming an individual symptom is psychogenic. Questions about trauma require consent, privacy, an appropriate clinical purpose, and an offer of support. Other mental health conditions, including depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, may coexist with physical illness and deserve assessment on their own merits.
Children, adolescents, and family care
In younger people, clinicians must consider growth, development, medical causes, school attendance, family stressors, sleep, peer relationships, and the child's own description of symptoms. Parents and caregivers may help describe functional change, while adolescents should have an appropriate opportunity to speak privately with the clinician when suitable.
A child with persistent physical symptoms deserves developmentally appropriate medical assessment, consistent communication, and efforts to preserve education and peer contact when feasible. School accommodations should reflect genuine needs; they should not be used as leverage to force symptom improvement. The Canadian Paediatric Society's guidance describes assessment and coordinated management of somatic symptom and related disorders in pediatric practice.
Care planning should include who contacts the school, how missed work will be managed, how flare-ups will be handled, and when the family and health team will reassess. Pediatric rehabilitation and psychological support should follow the child's actual clinical presentation and account for family burden.
Insurance, costs, access, and patient rights
Practical obstacles can strongly shape care. Ask whether a referral is covered, how records are transferred, what prior authorization is required, and whether telehealth or a community service is appropriate. Clarify which clinician will appeal an insurance denial or supply documentation of disability and functional limitations when clinically justified.
A care plan should account for transportation, caregiving, limited leave from work, disability benefits, and out-of-pocket medication costs. Financial pressure can reduce attendance or adherence without saying anything about a person's motivation. If access is limited, ask which components of care are most important and whether they can be delivered in primary care, remotely, or through a coordinated local team.
A practical appointment checklist
Before the visit, prepare your short symptom timeline, medication list, relevant records, current function, and two or three questions. During the visit, ask for the working assessment, the purpose of proposed tests, the expected benefits and risks of treatment, and a plan for follow-up. After the visit, keep the agreed instructions, complete necessary referrals, and note the contact pathway for a changed or urgent symptom.
You can ask: “What do we know and what is still uncertain?” “Which symptom or limitation should we address first?” “What would make you reassess the diagnosis?” “Who coordinates specialist recommendations?” “What activity level is appropriate for my particular condition?” and “When will we review whether the plan is working?” These questions make the consultation a shared decision process.
Example of a written care plan
Lead clinician: the named primary care or specialist clinician responsible for the overall plan. Current assessment: established diagnoses, working hypotheses, important unexcluded possibilities, and relevant findings. Priorities: one or two symptom-related goals and one functional goal. Actions: medications and monitoring, tests with their stated question, referrals and who follows results. Follow-up: agreed interval and contact route. Safety-net: specific changes that require earlier contact or emergency care.
This template is an organizational aid, not a diagnostic tool. The details should be jointly completed and revised with the treating team.
What does current research actually establish?
High-confidence guidance supports listening to symptoms, examining patients appropriately, treating confirmed diseases, using shared decisions, monitoring response, and planning reassessment. The NICE decision-making guideline and AHRQ patient-safety materials provide operational guidance for these parts of clinical care. The broad Lancet review summarizes mechanisms and management across heterogeneous persistent symptoms.
Evidence for particular models of collaborative care is still developing. A 2024 pilot randomized study examined integrated mental health video consultations for somatic symptom disorder; as a pilot, it cannot establish reliable effectiveness across all patients with persistent symptoms. The 2024 implementation study generated strategies that need prospective testing. A 2023 scoping review highlighted limited reporting of usual care and difficulty attributing outcomes to particular healthcare factors; observational associations should not be read as proof that one setting caused better recovery.
A 2026 conceptual paper on predictive processing in consultations proposes one way to explain the interaction between bodily signals, expectations, and perception. It is a plausible explanatory framework with limited direct intervention-trial evidence, not a diagnostic test or settled causal account for an individual person's symptoms.
The clinical literature combines varied symptoms, classifications, healthcare systems, and treatments. Results for somatic symptom disorder, chronic pain, ME/CFS, Long COVID, functional neurological disorder, and other conditions must be applied according to the population and intervention actually studied. Research on care organization is not proof that every persistent symptom responds to the same therapy.
Frequently asked questions
Should I keep seeing a doctor when tests are normal?
Yes, when symptoms persist or impair daily life, a clinician can continue assessment, symptom management, function-oriented support, and appropriate monitoring. Normal findings can narrow the possibilities, but they do not remove the need to evaluate meaningful changes. The frequency and type of follow-up should be agreed according to the individual clinical situation.
How often should I schedule follow-up appointments?
There is no single schedule suitable for every person. The right interval depends on severity, evolving symptoms, active treatments, diagnostic uncertainty, and access. Agree on a review date and specific reasons to contact the team earlier.
Can I have persistent physical symptoms and a diagnosed medical illness?
Yes. Persistent symptoms may occur with established medical disease, after an infection, or alongside multiple diagnoses. A medical condition can coexist with symptoms that require separate management. The presence of anxiety or functional symptoms does not invalidate another diagnosis.
Is asking for a second opinion unreasonable?
A second opinion may clarify an unresolved diagnosis or treatment decision, especially when findings are new, the clinical picture is complex, or communication has broken down. Share your prior records and ask the new clinician to address a defined question.
Does a referral to psychotherapy mean my doctor thinks I am inventing symptoms?
No. Psychological care can help with distress, coping, activity patterns, sleep, adjustment, and condition-specific difficulties even when someone has a confirmed physical disease. Treatment should have a clear purpose and be chosen collaboratively; it does not determine the origin or reality of the symptoms.
How can I avoid repeated testing without missing something important?
Ask what each proposed test is intended to detect, how likely it is to change management, and what new findings would make reevaluation necessary. Make an explicit safety-net and follow-up plan. Appropriate investigation and avoidance of unnecessary repetition are complementary clinical responsibilities.
What if different specialists disagree?
Ask your lead clinician to collect the findings and arrange clarification between specialists. Identify whether they disagree about a diagnosis, its level of certainty, or a proposed treatment. Avoid making conflicting medication changes yourself.
Should I exercise through fatigue or symptom flares?
Activity advice depends on the cause and pattern of symptoms. In conditions involving post-exertional malaise, pushing through can worsen illness. Ask for a diagnosis-sensitive activity plan, and describe delayed deterioration after exertion if it occurs.
What can I do if appointments are short?
Bring a one-page summary, name your two or three most important priorities at the start, and ask for written next steps. A follow-up visit or longer appointment may be needed to address complex decisions safely.
When does a new symptom need urgent care?
Seek emergency assessment for sudden stroke-like changes, severe breathing difficulty, concerning chest pain, severe acute neurological changes, and other life-threatening symptoms. For other significant changes, contact your clinician or urgent-care service promptly. Earlier functional or somatic diagnoses should never be used to dismiss a new emergency.
For broader clinical context, see Medically Unexplained Symptoms: Medical Evaluation and Care for Persistent Physical Symptoms.
Related Articles
For distinctions between health fears and obsessive-compulsive symptoms, read OCD vs. Illness Anxiety Disorder. For how anxiety can involve genuine bodily sensations while also requiring medical differential assessment, see Physical Symptoms of Anxiety. For the clinical overlap between trauma-related presentations and somatic complaints, see Physical Symptoms of PTSD. These published English resources address neighboring intents; they do not replace coordinated medical assessment.
References
Abrahamsen, C., et al. (2026). Persistent physical symptoms not explained by structural abnormalities or disease processes: a primary care approach to promote recovery. Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care. DOI.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2018). Evidence-Based Strategies to Engage Patients and Families to Improve Patient Safety. Official guidance.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2024). Use the Teach-Back Method: Tool 5. Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit. Official guidance.
Anastasides, N., et al. (2019). Helpful ways providers can communicate about persistent medically unexplained physical symptoms. BMC Family Practice, 20, 13. DOI.
Canadian Paediatric Society. (2024). Somatic symptom and related disorders: guidance on assessment and management. Official statement.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024). Strategies to Prevent Worsening of Symptoms: ME/CFS Clinical Care. Official guidance.
Cochrane. Consultation letters for use by primary care physicians in their care of patients with physical symptoms for which no organic cause can be found. Systematic review summary.
Haun, M. W., et al. (2024). An integrated mental health video consultations model for patients with somatic symptom disorder in primary care: the randomized VISION pilot trial. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 182, 111801. DOI.
Kustra-Mulder, A., Löwe, B., & Weigel, A. (2023). Healthcare-related factors influencing symptom persistence, deterioration, or improvement in patients with persistent somatic symptoms: a scoping review of European studies. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 174, 111485. DOI.
Löwe, B., et al. (2024). Persistent physical symptoms: definition, genesis, and management. The Lancet, 403, 2649–2662. DOI.
Mamo, N., et al. (2024). Quality indicators for collaborative care networks in persistent somatic symptoms and functional disorders: a modified Delphi study. BMC Health Services Research, 24, 225. DOI.
Mamo, N., et al. (2024). Strategies to improve implementation of collaborative care for functional disorders and persistent somatic symptoms: a qualitative study using a Research World Café design. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 181, 111665. DOI.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2021). Myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy)/chronic fatigue syndrome: diagnosis and management (NG206). Clinical guideline.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2021). Shared decision making (NG197). Clinical guideline.
Swainston, K., et al. (2023). What psychological interventions are effective for the management of persistent physical symptoms (PPS)? A systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Health Psychology, 28, 80–97. DOI.
van Boven, K., et al. (2026). Explaining symptoms in general practice: a predictive processing framework for primary care consultations. Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care. DOI.