Table. Findings of selected systematic reviews on interventions to treat functional somatic symptoms.
| Syndrome | Number of systematic reviews (total) | Intervention | Systematic review (exemplary sources) | Target variable/ symptom severity (main study result in exemplary source [95% confidence interval]) |
Evidence level | Signs of lacking acceptance or tolerance |
| Functional somatic symptoms in general | 1 | Self-help interventions | (7) | SMD 0.58 [0.32; 0.84] | Weak | No data |
| 3 | Short-term psychotherapy | (8) | SMD −0.34 [−0.53; −0.16] | Weak | No | |
| Chronic fatigue syndrome | 2 | Exercise*1 | (9) | SMD −0.73 [−1.10; −0.37]*8 | Moderate | No |
| Fibromyalgia syndrome | 6 | Aerobic training | (10) | SMD −0.40 [−0.55; −0.26] | Moderate | No |
| 1 | Multimodal treatment*2 | (11) | SMD −0.42 [−0.58; 0.25] | No data | No | |
| 1 | Tricyclic antidepressants*3 | (12) | SMD −0.53 [−0.78; −0.29] | No data | No | |
| 3 | Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors*4 | (13) | RD 0.10 [0.01; 0.20] | Very weak | No | |
| 2 | Milnacipran | (14) | RR 1.38 [1.22; 1.57)*9 | Strong | Yes*9 | |
| 2 | Pregabalin | (15) | RR 1.8 [1.4; 2.1] | Strong | Yes*3 | |
| 5 | Passive treatments (massage. transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. transcranial magnetic stimulation) | (16) | SMD 0.37 [−0.19; 0.93] | No data | No | |
| 2 | Acupuncture | (17) | SMD 0.01 [−0.37; 0.35]*10 | Strong | No data | |
| 2 | Balneo-/hydro-/spa therapy | (10) | SMD −1.36 [−2.27; −0.44] | Moderate | No | |
| 2 | Cognitive behavioral therapy. hypnotherapy | (18) | SMD −0.29 [−0.47; −0.11] | Weak | No | |
| 1 | Mindfulness-based treatments | (19) | SMD −0.23 [−0.46; −0.01] | No data | No data | |
| Irritable bowel syndrome | 2 | Acupuncture | (20) (21) |
RR 1.29 [1.10; 1.51] SMD −0.11 [−0.35; 0.13] |
Strong Moderate |
No |
| 4 | Low-threshold psychological interventions*5 | (22) | SMD 0.60 [0.33; 0.86] | Weak | No data | |
| 4 | Psychotherapy (in the broad sense) | (23) | SMD 0.69 [0.52; 0.86] | No data | No data | |
| 2 | Cognitive behavioral therapy | (24) | RR 0.60 [0.44; 0.83] | Weak | No data | |
| 3 | Hypnotherapy/hypnosis | (25) | RR 1.69 [1.14; 2.51] | Strong | No | |
| 2 | Tricyclic antidepressants*6 | (24) | RR 0.66 [0.56; 0.79] | Weak | Yes*9 | |
| 2 | Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors*7 | (26) | RR 0.74 [0.52; 1.06] | Weak | No data | |
| 2 | Spasmolytics | (26) | RR 0.67 [0.55; 0.80] | Weak | No data | |
| 3 | Rifaximine | (27) | OR 1.19 [1.08; 1.32] | No data | No | |
| 3 | Linaclotide in irritable bowel syndrome with predominant obstipation | (26) | RR 0.73 [0.65; 0.82] | Strong | No |
Details of interventions:
*1 Planned. structured. and repeated physical activity
*2 Combination of at least one activating procedure (endurance. strength. flexibility training) with at least one psychological procedure (patient education. behavioral therapy)
*3 Imipramine. amitriptyline. clomipramine. desipramine. dothiepin. nortriptyline. amoxapine. doxepin. protriptyline. trimipramine. maprotiline
*4 Citalopram. fluoxetine. escitalopram. fluvoxamine. paroxetine. sertraline
*5 Mindfulness-based procedures. self-efficacy training or relaxation training
*6 Amitriptyline. desipramine. doxepin. trimipramine
*7 Fluoxetine. paroxetine. citalopram
*8 Daily dose 100 mg. comparable effects for daily dose 200 mg
*9 Leads to downgrading
*10 Comparison with sham acupuncture
OR. Odds ratio; RD. risk difference; RR relative risk; SMD. standardized mean difference; Target variable/main study result: bold. statistically significant effect size; _italic. no recommendation despite statistically significant effect size