Considerable discussion has occurred concerning the diagnostic label chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Many patient groups argue that using this term trivializes the seriousness of the syndrome. A federal government organization, the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Coordinating Committee, appointed a Name Change Workgroup to attempt to develop different terminology for this disorder. This group distributed a poll to patients and health-care providers to obtain information about its recommendation to use an umbrella term, chronic neuroendocrineimmune dysfunction syndrome, and subtypes under it. In addition, the CFIDS Association, a national self-help advocacy organization, distributed a questionnaire to a group of health-care providers concerning these recommendations. The findings of both polls are presented. Overall findings indicated that the majority of patients want the name changed and that the term chronic neuroendocrineimmune dysfunction syndrome was acceptable to the majority of this group.
Since 1988, when the term chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) was coined, considerable discussion has occurred about stigma associated with this diagnostic term. In particular, patients with CFS have felt that this term trivializes the serious nature of this disorder. A Name Change Work group, appointed by the CFS Coordinating Committee, developed an umbrella term: chronic neuroendocrineimmune dysfunction syndrome (CNDS), and proposed that there would be sub-types under this term, one being CFS. The present study examined attributions of this new umbrella term when compared with CFS. Nurses and physician assistants (PAs) were presented a case study of a patient with symptoms of CFS. They were told that the patient had either "chronic fatigue syndrome," "chronic neuroendocrineimmune dysfunction syndrome," or "chronic neuroendocrineimmune dysfunction syndrome, which had formerly been called chronic fatigue syndrome." The different terms led to different attributions, with PA respondents rating the "CNDS" label as more severe. Results suggest that a more medical sounding term (CNDS) may lead to attributions that this syndrome is a more serious, disabling illness. The policy implications of these findings are discussed.
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