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Australian Journal of Primary Health Australian Journal of Primary Health Society
The issues influencing community health services and primary health care
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Frequency and content analysis of chronic fatigue syndrome in medical text books

Leonard A. Jason A B , Erin Paavola A , Nicole Porter A and Morgan L. Morello A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A DePaul University, Center for Community Research, 990 W. Fullerton Avenue, Suite 3100, Chicago, IL 60614, USA.

B Corresponding author. Email: ljason@depaul.edu

Australian Journal of Primary Health 16(2) 174-178 https://doi.org/10.1071/PY09023
Published: 19 May 2010

Abstract

Text books are a cornerstone in the training of medical staff and students, and they are an important source of references and reviews for these professionals. The objective of this study was to determine both the quantity and quality of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) information included in medical texts. After reviewing 119 medical text books from various medical specialties, we found that 48 (40.3%) of the medical text books included information on CFS. However, among the 129 527 total pages within these medical text books, the CFS content was presented on only 116.3 (0.090%) pages. Other illnesses that are less prevalent, such as multiple sclerosis and Lyme disease, were more frequently represented in medical text books. These findings suggest that the topic of CFS is underreported in published medical text books.

Additional keywords: myalgic encephalomyelitis.


Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate financial support from NIAID (grant number AI055735).


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