Physiotherapy for functional motor disorders: a consensus

Background

Patients with functional motor disorder (FMD) including weakness and paralysis are commonly referred to physiotherapists. There is growing evidence that physiotherapy is an effective treatment, but the existing literature has limited explanations of what physiotherapy should consist of and there are insufficient data to produce evidence-based guidelines. We aim to address this issue by presenting recommendations for physiotherapy treatment.

Conclusions

Physiotherapy has a key role in the multidisciplinary management of patients with FMD. There appear to be specific physiotherapy techniques which are useful in FMD and which are amenable to and require prospective evaluation. The processes involved in referral, treatment and discharge from physiotherapy should be considered carefully as a part of a treatment package.

In Neuropsychiatry Viewpoint, Physiotherapy for functional motor disorders: a consensus recommendation, Glenn Nielsen, Jon Stone, Audrey Matthews, Melanie Brown, Chris Sparkes, Ross Farmer, Lindsay Masterton, Linsey Duncan, Alisa Winters, Laura Daniell, Carrie Lumsden, Alan Carson, Anthony S David, Mark Edwards. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2015;86:1113-1119 doi:10.1136/jnnp-2014-309255