Factitious disorders in neurology: An analysis of reported cases

Abstract

Background: Factitious disorder (FD) is the deliberate production or simulation of symptoms in order to adopt the sick role. Objective: The authors look at FD in the neurology setting. Method: The authors examined documented, published cases. Results: FD cases in neurology are strikingly different from those in other specialties in terms of their demographics. Whereas the paradigm of FD in medicine as a whole is of the socially stable female healthcare worker, neurology continues to report largely the classic itinerant "Munchausen's" type. Discussion: The authors explore two possible explanations for this: either that female healthcare workers with FD do not present neurologically, or that, ..