The following is a summary of “Patients’ acceptance of explanatory models for persistent somatic symptoms: A qualitative analysis within the HERMES study,” published in the July 2023 issue of Psychosomatic Research by Junge et al.

This qualitative study aimed to provide an in-depth analysis of participants’ experiences with video-animated explanatory models developed within the three-arm randomized controlled HERMES study (helpful explanatory models for somatic symptoms) and suggestions for intervention enhancement. Psychosomatic outpatients with persistent somatic symptoms (PSS) were given semi-structured qualitative interviews after watching one of three psychoeducational videos on a tablet computer: 

An explanatory model without personalization, an explanatory model with personalization, or PSS guidelines without an explanatory model in the control group. Thematic analysis was applied to audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed qualitative interviews. The average duration of interviews was 8.19 minutes (SD = 3.19; range: 4.02–19.02 minutes), and 75 patients with PSS were assigned to each study arm. Although all participants provided positive feedback regardless of study arm, those in the explanatory model without personalization and with personalization groups were more likely to view the psychoeducational interventions as beneficial. 

Prior illness courses, symptom perceptions, and patient characteristics were identified as critical factors related to patients’ responses to the video interventions and optimal personalization of the explanatory model by the study’s findings. Not only did the present study demonstrate the acceptability of all three psychoeducational interventions developed within the HERMES study, but it also provided valuable insights into key factors that may increase their effectiveness and potential starting points for tailoring psychoeducation for patients with PSS.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022399923002040