%0 Journal Article
%@ 1661-7827
%A Hiremath, Sonya
%A Doukrou, Montserrat
%A Flannery, Halina
%A Carey, Catherine
%A Gregorowski, Anna
%A Ward, Joseph
%A Hargreaves, Dougal
%A Segal, Terry Yvonne
%D 2022
%F discovery:10177607
%I MDPI
%J International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
%K Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Environmental Sciences, Public, Environmental & Occupational Health, Environmental Sciences & Ecology, adolescent, moderate, severe, chronic fatigue syndrome, myalgic encephalomyelitis, myalgic encephalopathy, outcomes, treatment, inpatient, measure, young people, long COVID
%N 20
%T Key Features of a Multi-Disciplinary Hospital-Based Rehabilitation Program for Children and Adolescents with Moderate to Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ME/CFS
%U https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10177607/
%V 19
%X Purpose of the study: There is limited published data on treatment or outcomes of children and young people (CYP) with moderate or severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS). Here, we describe outcomes of moderate and severe ME/CFS in CYP treated in a tertiary adolescent service. This information is useful when planning services for CYP and families affected by moderate/severe ME/CFS and to guide future management trials and commissioning decisions. Study Design: A retrospective review was conducted of medical records of the 27 CYP who received ward-based treatment in 2015. Notes were retrospectively reviewed to assess progress in four markers of wellbeing over the period of treatment: (i) mobility, (ii) education, (iii) sleep and (iv) involvement in social/recreational activities. Results: A total of 23/27 (85%) showed improvement in one or more domains over their period of ward-based therapy. 19/27 (70%) of patients showed improvement in physical ability. In 15/23 patients (65%), there was an improvement in ability to access education, in 12/24 (50%) sleep improved, and 16/27 (59%) demonstrated an improvement in socialising/ability perform recreational activities. Conclusion/Implications: A multidisciplinary hospital-based rehabilitation programme for moderate and severe ME/CFS was associated with improvement in at least one area of wellbeing in 85% of the CYP we reviewed. These data may be used as a baseline to evaluate the impact of other models of delivering care for this patient group. It may be useful when considering other groups such as those affected by Post-COVID Syndrome.
%Z Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.  Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.  This article is an open access article  distributed under the terms and  conditions of the Creative Commons  Attribution (CC BY) license (https://  creativecommons.org/licenses/by/  4.0/)