Derek Pheby

Dr. Derek F. H. Pheby, BSc, MB, BS, LLM, MPhil, FFPH, is a Visiting Professor of Epidemiology, Buckinghamshire New University, Wycombe, England, United Kingdom. He served as the Project Coordinator of the National ME Observatory, a collaborative project involving three universities, aiming to fill gaps in research knowledge, as well as the scientific coordinator of, EUROMENE, a European research network on ME, with some thirty participating institutions in fifteen countries. He was a former member of the Chief Medical Officer’s Working Group on CFS/ME and former trustee of Action for ME.

Pheby initiated the establishment of the ME/CFS Disease Register in the UK by using a READ-code based algorithm on Electronic Medical Records which conformed to certain case definitions for ME/CFS. The ME/CFS Disease Register is used to recruit participants with ME/CFS in an unbiased way from a large population base. Likewise, he is attempting to establish a post-mortem brain and tissue bank for the study of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.

Studies related to ME/CFS

 * 2014, Considerations in establishing a post-mortem brain and tissue bank for the study of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: A proposed protocol (Full Text)
 * 2014, Use of an online survey to explore positive and negative outcomes of rehabilitation for people with CFS/ME (Abstract)
 * 2011, A Disease Register for ME/CFS: Report of a Pilot Study (Full Text)
 * 2011, Social support needs for equity in health and social care: a thematic analysis of experiences of people with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (Full Text)
 * 2010, Severe ME/CFS in Adults-A report from the CHROME Database"'Abstract - BACKGROUND: Case History Research on ME (CHROME) was established in 1994 to undertake research on severely affected patients. Since 1995 CHROME has collected data on volunteers with severe ME/CFS. All are medically diagnosed, conform to Fukuda criteria, are or  were  house-bound, and ill for at least two years. Participants complete initial and annual follow-up questionnaires, and report their condition at onset of illness, a year previously, on recruitment, and annually thereafter. METHOD: We report symptom severity and ability to undertake activities of daily living in 324 participants recruited between 1995 and 1998, their evolution through time, and, for later onset (age  17+) subjects, changes occurring between recruitment and the latest questionnaire. Significance was assessed using the McNemar test or its binomial equivalent. RESULTS: For most  features, subjects deteriorated between onset and recruitment, with subsequent improvement, often slow  and uneven, among later onset cases. Complete recovery was unusual. There were marked individual variations, and many subjects remained severely incapacitated or deteriorated. All features examined were more prevalent and severe in patients with a younger age of onset. Age at onset was bimodal, with peaks at 11-20 and 31-40. Most subjects, at recruitment, had been ill for 2-10 years. The proportion of early onset cases rose significantly in the mid-1980s. CONCLUSIONS: Caution is necessary in interpreting the results, given problems of self-selection, recall bias, and subjective interpretations of symptom ratings. It is unclear whether the reported trends are inevitable features of ME/CFS, or perhaps due to poor management at the outset."
 * 2009, Risk factors for severe ME/CFS (Full Text)
 * 2007, The Development of an Epidemiological Definition for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome"'Abstract - 'An epidemiological case-definition was developed to distinguish myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome from other chronic fatiguing conditions by evaluating the discriminatory potential of different criteria from previous definitions. A two-part model was derived using consensus and discriminant analytic approaches. The optimal discriminators for the first part were severe debilitating fatigue affecting physical and mental functioning, a reduction in activity to less than 50% of the patient's premorbid activity level, and muscle discomfort (sensitivity 92%, specificity 66%). The variables for the second part included a reduction in activity to less than 50% of the patient's premorbid activity, myalgia, generalized muscle weakness, migratory arthralgia, and swollen lymph nodes (sensitivity 77%, specificity 88%).'"
 * 2005, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: a survey of GPs' attitudes and knowledge."'METHODS: A postal questionnaire was sent to 1054 GPs served by Taunton, Bristol and Gloucester laboratories. GPs' attitudes to nine statements about CFS/ME were assessed and the factors associated with positive or negative responses were determined. Knowledge of the clinical features was also assessed. RESULTS: 811 GPs (77%) returned the questionnaire. 48% of GPs did not feel confident with making a diagnosis of CFS/ME and 41% did not feel confident in treatment. 72% of GPs accepted CFS/ME as a recognisable clinical entity and those GPs had significantly more positive attitudes. Three other key factors that were significantly, positively associated with GPs' attitudes were knowing someone socially with CFS/ME, being male and seeing more patients with the condition in the last year."
 * 2004, Risk Factors for the Development of Severe ME/CFS — A Pilot Study"'Abstract - The pilot phase is reported of a case-control study to determine risk factors for severe CFS/ME. One hundred fifty-seven members of the ME Association, selected at random, were sent postal questionnaires, with a 56% response. The Barthel index was used as a validated proxy measure to distinguish severe disease (cases) and those less severe. Thirteen of 88 respondents had severe disease, and 44 mild disease. Two matched controls from the ‘mild’ group were selected per case. Of possible risk factors, odds ratios greater than 2 were found for comorbidities, damaging initial treatment and occupational chemical exposure, although in this study they were not statistically significant. These data suggest that additional studies are warranted.'"

Talks and Interviews

 * 2013, [[Action for ME] AGM 2013 part three - Research]
 * 2007, Speaker at the 2nd Invest in ME International ME Conference - Epidemiology of ME/CFS - DVD available

Online Presense

 * Derek Pheby Linkedin