Thursday August 26, 1999
Company Press Release
SOURCE: DePaul University

New Chronic Fatigue Study Fuels Debate on Name Change; DePaul Professor
Says Biological Name Taken More Seriously

CHICAGO, Aug. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- What's in a name? Plenty, when the
subject is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), according to DePaul University
psychology professor Leonard Jason, whose recent study suggests that a
name change would result in the much-maligned illness being taken more
seriously.

An international debate on the issue weighs whether or not CFS's weak
moniker has hampered efforts to gain recognition and government support.
Jason was joined by Sigita Plioplys, M.D., a psychiatry resident
affiliated with the University of Illinois at Chicago and a research team
from DePaul, which set out to determine if doctors' perceptions of the
disease would change if the name were changed.

The team found that when groups of medical trainees reviewed case studies
of CFS patients that featured three different names for the disease, their
perceptions did change depending on the name the illness was given. The
names used in the study were: CFS; Florence Nightingale Disease (FN),
named for the public health nurse who served during the Crimean War and
was believed to have suffered from chronic fatigue; and Myalgic
Encephalopathy (ME), the medically based term used to describe the
condition.

More than 100 Chicago medical students and residents responded to
questions pertaining to prognosis, correct diagnosis, illness cause and
appropriate treatment.

When asked to assess the likelihood that the patient would improve within
two years, 42 percent of the medical trainees assessing the Florence
Nightingale name, and a similar 41 percent of trainees evaluating the CFS
name responded that it was likely or very likely that the patient would
improve. However, only 16 percent of the students and residents who
thought the condition was called Myalgic Encephalopathy felt it was likely
or very likely that the patient would improve. ``This finding suggests
that the doctors perceived the ME label as being indicative of a more
chronic and debilitating illness as compared to the labels CFS and FN,''
Jason said.

When asked what factors were most likely responsible for the person's
illness, a greater proportion of medical trainees in the ME group
attributed the illness to medical causes (39 percent) as compared with
trainees in the FN (30 percent) and CFS (22 percent) groups.

``If you have a more medical-sounding name it does seem to change
perceptions of the illness,'' said Jason. ``This study provides a
much-needed methodology for helping to change the name, and a way to go
about it in a scientific, systematic way.''

According to Jason, a more biological-sounding name for CFS will be
beneficial because people tend to interact in a more sympathetic way when
an illness has a name that communicates medical and scientific legitimacy.
Also, the perception that CFS is a trivial illness has negatively affected
government funding and support services. Jason indicated that more
research and studies are needed to erase this myth.

The study, Evaluating Attributions for an Illness based upon the Name:
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Myalgic Encephalopathy and Florence Nightingale
Disease, was reported in the July/August 1999 issue of the Chronic Fatigue
Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) Chronicle.

Jason can be reached at 773-325-2018 for more information.

SOURCE: DePaul University