Specifics of chronic fatigue syndrome coping strategies identified in a French flash survey during the COVID-19 containment, by Florence Moncorps, Emmanuelle Jouet, Sabine Bayen, Isabelle Fornasieri, Sophie Renet, Olivier Las-Vergnas, Nassir Messaadi in Health  and Social Care in the Community, 6 April 2021 [doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13376]

 

What is known about this topic?

  • People living with a long‐term condition (LTC) faced with the stress of COVID‐19 have mostly mobilised coping strategies centered on emotion.
  • People living with a LTC need the support of the social network in the daily adaptation to their pathology.
  • The scientific literature publishes very few studies on little recognised syndromes and pathologies such as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

What this paper adds?

  • People living with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) mobilise different coping strategies from recognised diagnosed diseases (RDDs) face of the stress of COVID‐19.
  • Those diagnosed would like more information about what social support exists to address their own needs.
  • ME/CFS is a disease with a high prevalence, but very low recognition where COVID‐19 has further isolated them from health professionals and community.

Research abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has focused health systems on supporting patients affected by this virus. Meanwhile in the community, many other contained patients could only use self-care strategies, especially in countries that have set up a long and strict containment such as France. The study aimed to compare coping strategies deployed by patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS; a poorly recognised syndrome) to those with better known and referenced chronic conditions.

An online flash survey was conducted during the containment period in partnership with French Patients Organizations including ME/CFS national association. Therefore, ‘Brief COPE’ version of Lazarus and Folkman’s Ways of Coping Check List has been adapted to the specificity of the containment. The survey was e-distributed in France from 15 April to 11 May 2020. Differences of coping strategies were analyzed using Wilcoxon-Mann-Withney test.

Amongst 637 responses, 192 were complete, presenting a wide variety of diseases, including 93 ME/CFS. The latter have significantly different coping strategies than recognised diagnosed diseases patients: similar uses of emotion focused coping but less uses of seek social support and problem-focused copings.

In conclusion, coping strategies are different for those who deal with the daily experience of ME/CFS, highly disabling chronic condition with diagnostic ambiguity, low degree of medical and social recognition and without treatment. Better understanding of those strategies is needed to provide the means for health promotion researchers, managers and clinicians, to accompany those patients.

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