Hng, Keng Ngee, Geraghty, Keith, Pheby, Derek F H · Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2021 · DOI
This study surveyed 44 UK hospital doctors about their knowledge of ME/CFS. Most doctors had little formal training on ME and lacked confidence in diagnosing or treating it, even though many had seen patients with the condition. The doctors showed significant gaps in understanding what ME actually is, how to properly diagnose it, and how to manage it effectively.
This study provides evidence that healthcare provider knowledge gaps about ME/CFS are a real clinical problem, which may contribute to delayed diagnosis, mismanagement, and patient harm. It supports the need for mandatory, evidence-based medical education on ME and validates patient experiences of being dismissed or misunderstood by medical professionals.
This audit does not prove that knowledge deficits directly cause worse patient outcomes, only that gaps exist in UK hospital doctors' understanding. The study is limited to 44 doctors at a single training event, so findings may not generalize to all UK doctors or other healthcare systems. It does not assess how knowledge gaps translate into actual clinical practice or patient care quality.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Hng, Keng Ngee, Geraghty, Keith, & Pheby, Derek F H (2021). An Audit of UK Hospital Doctors' Knowledge and Experience of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.. Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania). https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina57090885
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-hng-2021-audit-hospital,
author = {Hng, Keng Ngee and Geraghty, Keith and Pheby, Derek F H},
title = {An Audit of UK Hospital Doctors' Knowledge and Experience of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.},
journal = {Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.3390/medicina57090885},
note = {PubMed: 34577808},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hng-2021-audit-hospital},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-27. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hng-2021-audit-hospital
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