U.S. healthcare providers' knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions concerning Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

BMC Primary Care

Table 2 Constructs Resulted from Factor Analysis on CFS Knowledge, Attitudes, and Belief in Conference Healthcare Providers (n = 1255)

Item	Rotated Factor Pattern^a				Mean (SD)^d
	Factor 1	Factor 2	Factor 3	Factor 4
Attitude
CFS is not as big a problem as the media suggests	*.772*	-.044	-.001	-.079	7.42 (3.38)
People with CFS are just depressed	*.771*	.050	-.117	.052
If people with CFS rest then they will get better	*.769*	-.110	-.043	.148
Belief
Compared to other illnesses, CFS is more difficult to treat and manage	-.053	*.901*	.131	.066	10.19 (2.74)
Compared to other illnesses, CFS is more difficult to diagnose	-.036	*.896*	.129	.075
Knowledge
CFS can be diagnosed using the MFI^b,	-.002	.068	*.888*	.133	10.05 (2.44)
SF-36^b, and CDC Symptom Inventory^b
Criteria for a diagnosis of CFS	-.156	.221	*.824*	.124
Perception
Majority of people with CFS have a high	-.151	.155	-.003	*.831*	8.12 (2.55)
SES
Majority of CFS people were competitive, driven to achieve, and compulsive before they got sick	-.054	-.017	.305	*.787*
Variance explained by each factor^c	20.41%	19.00%	17.88%	15.37%

^a Factor method: principal components with varimax rotation
^b Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory, the Short Form 36, and the CDC Symptom Inventory
^c Total variance = 72.66
^d Scale: Attitude 3 (strongly disagree) to 21 (strongly agree); Belief 2 (strongly disagree) to 14 (strongly agree); Knowledge 2 (strongly disagree) to 14 (strongly agree); Perception 2 (strongly disagree) to 14 (strongly agree)

ISSN: 2731-4553