Table 5

Female CFS/ME patients' probability of assessing quality as poor/very poor in primary care, specialist care and coordination of care, according to self-rated degree of CFS/ME (multivariable logistic regressions)

 Primary care (n=346)Specialist care (n=317)Coordination of care (n=308)
OR for trend (95% CI)OR for trend 95% CIOR for trend 95% CI
Degree of CFS/ME*1.68 (1.10 to 2.57)1.46 (0.95 to 2.24)1.52 (0.87 to 2.67)
Age in years1.00 (0.98 to 1.02)0.98 (0.96 to 1.01)1.01 (0.98 to 1.03)
Education†1.05 (0.81 to 1.37)1.18 (0.90 to 1.54)0.86 (0.61 to 1.22)
GP duration‡0.61 (0.38 to 0.99)1.00 (0.62 to 1.60)0.61 (0.32 to 1.17)
GP frequency§0.70 (0.54 to 0.93)0.94 (0.72 to 1.24)1.14 (0.80 to 1.64)
  • Statistically significant findings are marked in bold.

  • *Degree of ME in 3 groups: 1=mild, 2=moderate, 3=severe/very severe.

  • †Education in four groups: 1=Primary, 2=High school, 3=University 1–4 years, 4=University 5 years+.

  • ‡GP duration: 0=0–2 years, 1=>3 years.

  • §GP visits last year: 0=0 visits, 1=1–4 visits, 2=5–9 visits, 3=10+ visits.

  • CFS/ME, chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis; GP, general practitioner.