CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME (CFS): DIETARY MANAGEMENT.

Iffath Hussain & Dr.Bernadette Egan.

Faculty of health and medical sciences.
University of Surrey.

RESEARCH QUESTION :
Are General practitioners (GP’s) in the UK aware of the role of diet in treatment of CFS?

BACKGROUND DIAGNOSIS:
• CFS is a very serious condition that can cause long term illness and 1. Ruling out other diagnoses.(1)
disability in both children and adults. (3)
• It has unknown aetiology and complex diagnosis with no specific 2.
tests.(1)
• Patients suffering from CFS tend to gain weight, have irritable
bowel syndrome, intolerance to caffeine, alcohol and some foods
and medications.(3)
• NICE guidelines recommend following a healthy diet. (2)
• Reports from patients show that there might be a link between
CFS and diet/food allergies.(4)
• This has given rise to an interest in the possible role of diet in the
treatment of CFS as very little evidence is available. 3. Symptoms for 4 months in adults / 3 months in
children. (1)

AIMS:
1. Investigate the current provision of dietary advice to ME/CFS RELEVANCE AND IMPACT:
patients in a primary care setting, including quality and • GP’s are primary source of contact for patients and
frequency of advice given. very little is known about GP’s awareness of role of
2. Explore GP’s knowledge and beliefs of the role of diet in diet in the treatment of CFS.
ME/CFS. • To improve CFS care, it is important to know the
3. Examine what sources of information GP’s use to provide knowledge of GP’s and to check whether they need
dietary advice.     awareness training.
4. Find out if they refer patients to dieticians.         
5. Identify whether GP’s may need training and information in
relation to CFS

METHODOLGY AND STUDY DESIGN :

• Newsletter- Royal College of General Practitioners.
• Primary Care Clinical Academy Group.
RECRUITE • Personal contact with GP’s.
MENT

• Questionnaire hosted via Qualtrics – (Number of patients diagnosed with CFS?, Awareness of NICE guidelines?,
Dietary advice given? , Recommended to Dieticians/Nutritionists?, Therapeutic outcomes?
DATA • Information page and consent form.
COLLECTIO • 10-15 minute survey.
N

• Descriptive statistics.
DATA • ( Chi-square for categorical variables & Analysis of variance for continuous variables )
ANALYSIS

REFERENCES:
1:NHS Choices (2015) Chronic fatigue syndrome - Treatment. Available at: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Chronic-fatigue-syndrome/Pages/Treatment.aspx. 2) NICE (2007) Clinical
guideline [CG53]. 3) Bda.uk.com. (2016).  Available at: https://www.bda.uk.com/foodfacts/cfs-meanddiet.pdf 4) Smith, B. et al., (2015) Annals of International Medicine. 162(12),
pp. 841-850.