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Query: UMLS:C0015674 (chronic fatigue syndrome)
 2,978 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Physicians have been called on to identify victims of domestic violence (DV) and sexual abuse (SA). Few data exist, however, on the prevalence of DV and SA in physicians themselves or on the personal or professional sequelae of such experiences. We determined the reported lifetime prevalence of DV and SA among women physicians and the personal characteristics, health-related factors, and work-related factors associated with these forms of abuse. We used data from the Women Physicians' Health Study, a large (n = 4501 respondents), nationally distributed questionnaire study that included questions on DV and SA histories, personal characteristics, and psychiatric, medical, and work-related histories. We compared the characteristics of women physicians with and without histories of DV or SA. The logistic models indicate that women physicians reporting DV histories (3.7% of the population) were significantly (p < 0.05) less likely to be single and significantly more likely to report depression histories, suicide attempts, substance abuse, current or past cigarette smoking, severe daily stress at home, chronic fatigue syndrome, and DV experienced by their mothers. Women physicians reporting SA histories (4.7% of the population) were significantly more likely to be younger than 60 years, identify themselves as homosexual or bisexual, to have specialized in psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology, or emergency medicine, and to report histories of depression, suicide attempts, eating disorders, and fair or poor perceived health status. Although the reported lifetime prevalence of DV and SA among women physicians is below other reported figures, such experiences are associated with medical and psychiatric difficulties that could negatively affect them personally and professionally.
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PMID:Domestic violence and sexual abuse in women physicians: associated medical, psychiatric, and professional difficulties. 1053 98

The authors studied the prevalence and characteristics of different forms of victimization in 95 patients suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) or fibromyalgia (FM) compared with a chronic disease group, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, and a matched healthy control group. The authors assessed prevalence rates, nature of victimization (emotional, physical, sexual), life period of occurrence, emotional impact, and relationship with the perpetrator by a self-report questionnaire on burdening experiences. CFS and FM patients showed significantly higher prevalences of emotional neglect and abuse and of physical abuse, with a considerable subgroup experiencing lifelong victimization. The family of origin and the partner were the most frequent perpetrators. With the exception of sexual abuse, victimization was more severely experienced by the CFS/FM group. No differences were found between healthy control subjects or RA/MS patients, and between CFS and FM patients. These findings support etiological hypotheses suggesting a pivotal role for chronic stress in CFS and FM and may have important therapeutic implications.
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PMID:Victimization in chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia in tertiary care: a controlled study on prevalence and characteristics. 1116 Nov 17

Using a randomly selected community-based sample, this investigation examined whether histories of childhood sexual, physical, and death threat abuse predicted adulthood outcomes of specific medical and psychiatric conditions involving chronic fatigue. This study also tested prior suggestions that most individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome report a past history of interpersonal abuse. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between abuse history and chronic fatigue group outcomes while controlling for the effects of sociodemographics. Compared with healthy controls, childhood sexual abuse was significantly more likely to be associated with outcomes of idiopathic chronic fatigue, chronic fatigue explained by a psychiatric condition, and chronic fatigue explained by a medical condition. None of the abuse history types were significant predictors of chronic fatigue syndrome. A closer examination of individuals in the chronic fatigue syndrome group revealed that significantly fewer individuals with CFS reported abuse as compared with those who did not. The implications of these findings are discussed.
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PMID:Sexual abuse, physical abuse, chronic fatigue, and chronic fatigue syndrome: a community-based study. 1170 72

This study audited 25 patients (21 female) from Oxfordshire who had been referred to either the liaison psychiatry or the neurological disability service between 1992 and 1998, reported a Barthel activities of daily living index score < 20 or a global assessment of functioning score of < or = 30, and had no pathology to explain their neurological disability. Levels of motor impairment, disability, mood, and cognitive status were assessed using standardised scales, and all patients were assigned a psychiatric diagnosis according to the International classification of diseases, 10th revision. Of the 25 patients, 13 had a motor conversion disorder, 8 had diverse somatoform disorders, and 3 had chronic fatigue syndrome. Nine had extensive previous contact with psychiatric services and 11 had experienced physical or sexual abuse. In 6 patients cessation of repeated self harm was closely associated with the onset of wheelchair use. Seven were receiving treatment for depression. The commonest putative diagnoses were multiple sclerosis (6) and epilepsy (5). Twelve were unable to walk and 20 owned a wheelchair but only 3 had formal care packages. The mean (SD) Barthel score was 14.1 (3.3) and the mean (SD) Frenchay activity index score was 12.9 (7.5). All were unemployed and receiving a disability living allowance, and some had benefits of up to pound 1815 a month. This small but significant group of disabled patients had a variety of psychiatric and neurological diagnoses and used considerable health care resources.
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PMID:Characteristics of patients with persistent severe disability and medically unexplained neurological symptoms: a pilot study. 1218 65