Study ID | Population (N) | Country setting | Primary objectives | Methods, recruitment and analysis | Appraisal of quality and relevance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Asbring and Narvanen [19] | 26 health professionals | Sweden | Explore physicians’ perspectives on CFS and fibromyalgia patients, specifically their thoughts about these patient groups and what strategies they use in consultations with them. | Methods: Semi-structured interviews | Relevant: 2-2-1 |
Recruitment: CFS/fibromyalgia patients contacted and asked to identify physicians (patients identified through a previous study) | |||||
Analysis: Grounded theory principles (including constant comparison and thematic saturation but not theory development) | |||||
Ax et al. [20] | 18 (9 patients each in 2 studies) | UK (England) | Explore CFS sufferers’ accounts of patient-professional communication, patient illness beliefs and treatment expectations, and consequences of interactions regarding treatment choice. | Methods: Semi-structured interviews | Relevant: 2-1-1 |
Recruitment: ME support group invitation | |||||
Analysis: Content analysis | |||||
Banks and Prior [21] | 114 consultations observed with patients and health professionals. | UK (Wales) | Investigate lay and professional ideas about the nature of CFS, in | Methods: Patient-professional observations in an out-patients clinic, and structured interviews with patients. | Relevant: 2-2-1 |
particular, the ways in which understandings of the disorder are developed in a clinical setting. | |||||
Recruitment: CFS clinic (no further details) | |||||
Analysis: No clear description. Authors took a functional approach and analysed accounts of illness rather than beliefs about illness. | |||||
Bayliss et al. [22] | 35 (11 patients, 2 carers, 9 GPs, 5 practice nurses, 4 CFS/ME | UK (England) | Explore BME patient, health professional and community leader’s views on the barriers to the diagnosis and management of CFS/ME in the BME population. | Methods: Semi-structured interviews | Key: 2-2-2 |
specialists and 5 BME community leaders) | |||||
Recruitment: Invited by letter/phone. | |||||
Analysis: Thematic analysis | |||||
Chew-Graham et al. [7] | 38 (24 patients; 14 physicians) | UK (England) | Explore how CFS patients and physicians understand the condition and how this affects the clinical consultation. | Methods: Semi-structured interviews | Key: 2-2-2 |
Recruitment: Purposive sampling from participants within a previous study (physicians nominated eligible patients). | |||||
Analysis: Thematic analysis using constant comparison principles | |||||
Chew-Graham et al. [23] | 29 practice nurses | UK (England) | Explore practice nurses’ beliefs about CFS patients and their perceived role regarding management. | Methods: Semi-structured interviews | Key: 2-2-2 |
Recruitment: Identified via involvement with a previous study and invited by letter/phone. | |||||
Analysis: Thematic analysis | |||||
Chew-Graham et al. [24] | 22 GPs | UK (England) | Explore GPs’ views on their role in diagnosing and managing CFS patients. | Methods: Semi-structured interviews | Relevant: 2-2-1 |
Recruitment: Identified via involvement with a previous study and invited by letter/phone. | |||||
Analysis: Thematic analysis | |||||
Chew-Graham et al. [25] | 19 patients | UK (England) | Establish important factors for patients engaging in a CFS intervention and make recommendations for GP on referring patients to such a service. | Methods: Semi-structured interviews | Key: 2-2-2 |
Recruitment: Identified GPs within a previous study and asked them to refer registered CFS patients to the study. | |||||
Analysis: Thematic analysis | |||||
Clarke [26] | 60 patients | Canada | Describe the way in which CFS patients seek confirmation and legitimisation of their illness. | Methods: Open-ended focused interviews | Relevant: 2-2-1 |
Recruitment: Patients contacted through CFS support groups and invited to participate via letter. | |||||
Analysis: Cross-case analysis | |||||
Dickson et al. [27] | 14 patients | UK (Scotland) | Explore patients’ experiences of living with CFS. | Methods: Interviews | Relevant: 2-2-1 |
Recruitment: Patients contacted through alternative therapy clinics (Reiki) or personal contacts. | |||||
Analysis: Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) | |||||
Edwards et al. [28] | 8 patients | UK (England) | Explore the experiences of living with CFS to increase insight into the experiences of and difficulties faced by people with this condition. | Methods: Semi-structured interviews | Relevant: 1-2-2 |
Recruitment: Members of an ME self-help network were recruited via posters and email. | |||||
Analysis: IPA | |||||
Gilje et al. [29] | 12 patients | Norway | Explore obstructions for quality care experienced by people with CFS | Methods: Group interview | Key: 2-2-2 |
Recruitment: Purposive sampling from patient organisation. | |||||
Analysis: Systematic text condensation (Giorgi, 1985) | |||||
Guise et al. [30] | 38 patients | UK (Scotland) | Explore the interactions between health professionals and patients with CFS. Targeting sensitive issues in an online environment and exploring how the accounts were constructed. | Method: Non-directive discussion topic in an online forum. | Key: 2-2-2 |
Recruitment: Patient support group invitation | |||||
Analysis: Discursive analysis | |||||
Hannon et al. [5] | 44 (9 GPs, 5 Practice Nurses, 4 CFS/ME specialists, 10 carers and 16 patients) | UK (England) | Explore patient, carer and health professional’s views on the development of CFS/ME training and resources for primary care. | Methods: Semi-structured interviews | Key: 2-2-2 |
Recruitment: Invited by letter/phone. | |||||
Analysis: Thematic analysis. | |||||
Horton et al. [31] | 6 health professionals | UK (England) | Explore healthcare professionals views of best practice. | Method: Semi-structure interview with developed topic guide | Key: 2-2-2 |
Recruitment: Nominated by members of England-wide study. | |||||
Analysis: Thematic analysis. | |||||
Horton-Salway [32] | 10 GPs | UK (England) | Explore GP’s construction of CFS/ME patient identities and the definition of their illness. | Method: Unstructured broad theme one-to-one interviews. | Relevant: 2-2-1 |
Recruitment: Nominated by members of a patient support group | |||||
Analysis: Discourse analysis. | |||||
McDermott et al. [33] | 20 patients | UK (England) | Explore hopes and expectations of patients newly referred to CFS service (Department of Health/National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence). | Method: Semi-structure interview with developed topic guide | Key: 2-2-2 |
Recruitment: Invitation letter sent to patients newly referred to specialist CFS service by their GP. | |||||
Analysis: Constant comparative analysis. | |||||
Peters et al. [34] | 46 patients, 3 nurses and 2 supervisors | UK (England) | Identify potential barriers and solutions for general nurse practitioners in implementing | Method: Mixed methods nested qualitative study. Semi-structured interview with developed topic guide | Key: 2-2-2 |
psychosocial interventions to people with CFS. Taken from 3 perspectives (the nurses delivering the intervention, the patients and supervisors). | Recruitment: Purposive and matched sampling (age etc) | ||||
Analysis: Thematic analysis. | |||||
Raine et al. [35] | 46 GPs | UK (England) | Explore GPs perspective about CFS and irritable bowel symptoms and how they should be treated. | Method: Nominal groups (clinical guideline opinion groups). Scenario evaluation. | Relevant: 2-2-1 |
Recruitment: Random sample | |||||
Analysis: Grounded theory variant. | |||||
Schoofs et al. [36] | 16 patients | USA | Expand upon quantitative quality of life measurements to understand how healthcare (diagnosis and management) impacts upon quality of life for people with CFS and Fibromyalgia. | Method: Mixed method design. Semi-structure telephone interview. | Relevant: 2-1-1 |
Recruitment: Convenience sample from 3 local support groups. | |||||
Analysis: Constant comparative analysis. | |||||
Woodward et al. [37] | 20 GPs and 50 patients | Australia | Compare GP and patients perspective of CFS and its management. | Method: Semi-structure interview with developed topic guide | Relevant: 2-1-1 |
Recruitment: GPs recruited from Royal College. Unclear how patients were recruited. | |||||
Analysis: No analytic procedure defined. Mixed quantitative e.g. “50% of doctors believed…” |