Environmental illness — effectiveness of a salutogenic group-intervention programme

Aims: Hypersensitivity to electricity (HE) is a common form of reported environmental illness in Sweden. Functional somatic symptoms has been attributed to exposure to activated electrical equipment, but no causal relationship to electromagnetic fields has been proved. In many cases, traumatic life events and psychosocial stress can be identified, but patients often reject psychological explanations. This study evaluates the effectiveness of a new short-term group-intervention programme. Methods: A multidisciplinary team developed a short-term group-intervention programme, with a salutogenic approach that focuses on somatic and psychological reactions. Twenty-two patients (14 women and 8 men) who reported HE participated in eight weekly sessions of group meetings and physiotherapy. The effect of the programme was evaluated with regard to changes in work capacity, subjective well-being, coping ability, body awareness and physical fitness. Results: Contrary to our hypothesis physical fitness was not remarkably low. Muscular tension was reduced and body awareness increased but no significant change in symptoms was observed. Individual differences in progress were observed. Fourteen patients chose to continue with psychotherapy or physiotherapy. Conclusions: Participants accepted the programme very well. One importan result was identification of underlying contributing factors and motivation for further therapy. A multidisciplinary group-intervention programme with a salutogenic approach might be a useful approach to patients with medically unexplained symptoms in primary healthcare.