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Medical Care Situation and Stigma with ME/CFS

Treatment I
unreveiled person
23-05-11, 09:55 CET, 12 min

Description

Dr. Froehlich presented data on the care situation and stigmatization of ME/CFS patients in Germany. A survey revealed that people with ME/CFS living in Germany are medically underserved, because the majority stated hurdles in the use of treatment (e.g. geographical hurdles such as long distances to specialists and financial barriers due to the lack of cost coverage by health insurance companies). Three-quarters of those surveyed were not receiving specialist treatment for ME/CFS, and were dissatisfied with primary care. Furthermore, stigmatisation of patients was associated with lower physical functioning and lower satisfaction with patients’ social relationships. Since the lack of knowledge of medical professionals about ME/CFS can lead to undertreatment and psychologization of the symptoms, Dr. Froehlich lastly presented an evaluation of an educational online lecture on ME/CFS and PCS. A live webinar was able to improve the participating physicians' knowledge of the epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment of ME/CFS.

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