Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms in Military Health (Symptomes physiques medicalement inexpliques dans la sante militaire)
Abstract
Every major war is followed by controversy around Post-Deployment Syndrome (PDS). In this setting there has often been overstated certainty about possible causes of these symptoms in the absence of clear scientific evidence and this leads to a debate that contributed to distrust and disability. Examples are Shell Shock, Agent Orange and Gulf War Syndrome. Medical Unexplained Physical Symptoms (MUPS) may be defined as physical symptoms that prompt the sufferer to seek health care but remain unexplained after an appropriate medical evaluation. There is a need to provide an operational definition of MUPS that allows for common understanding and standardization across NATO Nations and help to coordinate strategies such as health and environmental surveillance, and the evaluation of deployment health outcomes. This is an area that is a challenge for military, occupational and general medical settings. At the same time caution is needed to prevent widespread socialization of a cause in the absence of conclusive scientific evidence.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1047405
Entities
Organizations
- NATO Science and Technology Organization