ST7 General Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology (Ret), Doctors with M.E., Office 7, 37-39 Shakespeare Street, Southport PR8 5AB, UK.
Centre for Primary Care, Division of Population Health, Health Services Research and Primary Care, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
Medicina (Kaunas). 2021 Aug 27;57(9):885. doi: 10.3390/medicina57090885.
There is some evidence that knowledge and understanding of ME among doctors is limited. Consequently, an audit study was carried out on a group of hospital doctors attending a training event to establish how much they knew about ME and their attitudes towards it. Participants at the training event were asked to complete a questionnaire, enquiring about prior knowledge and experience of ME and their approaches to diagnosis and treatment. A total of 44 completed questionnaires were returned. Responses were tabulated, proportions selecting available options determined, 95% confidence limits calculated, and the significance of associations determined by Fisher's exact test. Few respondents had any formal teaching on ME, though most had some experience of it. Few knew how to diagnose it and most lacked confidence in managing it. None of the respondents who had had teaching or prior experience of ME considered it a purely physical illness. Overall, 82% of participants believed ME was at least in part psychological. Most participants responded correctly to a series of propositions about the general epidemiology and chronicity of ME. There was little knowledge of definitions of ME, diagnosis, or of clinical manifestations. Understanding about appropriate management was very deficient. Similarly, there was little appreciation of the impact of the disease on daily living or quality of life. Where some doctors expressed confidence diagnosing or managing ME, this was misplaced as they were incorrect on the nature of ME, its diagnostic criteria and its treatment. This audit demonstrates that most doctors lack training and clinical expertise in ME. Nevertheless, participants recognised a need for further training and indicated a wish to participate in this. It is strongly recommended that factually correct and up-to-date medical education on ME be made a priority at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It is also recommended that this audit be repeated following a period of medical education.
有证据表明，医生对 ME 的了解和认识有限。因此，我们对一组参加培训活动的医院医生进行了审计研究，以了解他们对 ME 的了解程度以及他们对该病的态度。培训活动的参与者被要求填写一份问卷，询问他们对 ME 的先前知识和经验以及他们的诊断和治疗方法。共收回 44 份完整的问卷。对问卷结果进行了制表，确定了可选答案的比例，计算了 95%置信区间，并通过 Fisher 精确检验确定了关联的显著性。很少有受访者接受过 ME 的正规教学，但大多数人都有过相关经验。很少有人知道如何诊断 ME，而且大多数人对治疗该病缺乏信心。没有接受过 ME 教学或有相关经验的受访者认为该病是纯粹的身体疾病。总的来说，82%的参与者认为 ME 至少部分是心理原因导致的。大多数参与者正确回答了一系列关于 ME 的一般流行病学和慢性特征的命题。他们对 ME 的定义、诊断或临床表现知之甚少。对于适当的管理方法，他们的了解非常缺乏。同样，他们也很少了解该疾病对日常生活或生活质量的影响。尽管一些医生对诊断或管理 ME 表示有信心，但这是错误的，因为他们对 ME 的性质、诊断标准和治疗方法都不正确。这次审计表明，大多数医生缺乏 ME 的培训和临床专业知识。然而，参与者认识到需要进一步培训，并表示希望参与其中。强烈建议在本科和研究生阶段将 ME 的事实正确且最新的医学教育作为优先事项。还建议在医学教育之后重复进行此项审计。
