[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 116 (Tuesday, June 17, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34538-34539]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-14084]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality


Scientific Information Request on Diagnosis and Treatment of 
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)

AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), HHS.

ACTION: Request for scientific information submissions.

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SUMMARY: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is 
seeking scientific information submissions from the public. Scientific 
information is being solicited to inform our review of Diagnosis and 
Treatment of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/
CFS), which is currently being conducted by the Evidence-based Practice 
Centers for the AHRQ Effective Health Care Program. Access to published 
and unpublished pertinent scientific information will improve the 
quality of this review. AHRQ is conducting this systematic review 
pursuant to Section 1013 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, 
Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, Public Law 108-173, and 
Section 902(a) of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 299a(a).

DATES: Submission Deadline on or before July 17, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Online submissions: http://effectivehealthcare.AHRQ.gov/index.cfm/submit-scientific-information-packets/. Please select the 
study for which you are submitting information from the list to upload 
your documents. Email submissions: src.org">SIPS@epc-src.org.

Print Submissions

Mailing Address: Portland VA Research Foundation, Scientific Resource 
Center, ATTN: Scientific Information Packet Coordinator, PO Box 69539, 
Portland, OR 97239.
Shipping Address (FedEx, UPS, etc.): Portland VA Research Foundation, 
Scientific Resource Center, ATTN: Scientific Information Packet 
Coordinator, 3710 SW U.S. Veterans Hospital Road, Mail Code: R&D 71, 
Portland, OR 97239.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ryan McKenna, Telephone: 503-220-8262 
ext. 58653 or Email: src.org">SIPS@epcsrc.org.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Agency for Healthcare Research and 
Quality has commissioned the Effective Health Care (EHC) Program 
Evidence-based Practice Centers to complete a review of the evidence 
for Diagnosis and Treatment of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic 
Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).
    The EHC Program is dedicated to identifying as many studies as 
possible that are relevant to the questions for each of its reviews. In 
order to do so, we are supplementing the usual manual and electronic 
database searches of the literature by requesting information from the 
public (e.g., details of studies conducted). We are looking for studies 
that report on Diagnosis and Treatment of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), including those that describe 
adverse events. The entire research protocol, including the key 
questions, is also available online at: http://effectivehealthcare.AHRQ.gov/search-for-guides-reviews-and-reports/?pageaction=displayproduct&productID=1906#8766.
    This notice is to notify the public that the EHC program would find 
the following information on Diagnosis and Treatment of Myalgic 
Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).
     A list of completed studies your company has sponsored for 
this indication. In the list, indicate whether results are available on

[[Page 34539]]

ClinicalTrials.gov along with the ClinicalTrials.gov trial number.
     For completed studies that do not have results on 
ClinicalTrials.gov, a summary, including the following elements: Study 
number, study period, design, methodology, indication and diagnosis, 
proper use instructions, inclusion and exclusion criteria, primary and 
secondary outcomes, baseline characteristics, number of patients 
screened/eligible/enrolled/lost to follow-up/withdrawn/analyzed, 
effectiveness/efficacy, and safety results.
     A list of ongoing studies your company has sponsored for 
this indication. In the list, please provide the ClinicalTrials.gov 
trial number or, if the trial is not registered, the protocol for the 
study including a study number, the study period, design, methodology, 
indication and diagnosis, proper use instructions, inclusion and 
exclusion criteria, and primary and secondary outcomes.
     Description of whether the above studies constitute ALL 
Phase II and above clinical trials sponsored by your company for this 
indication and an index outlining the relevant information in each 
submitted file.
    Your contribution is very beneficial to the Program. The contents 
of all submissions will be made available to the public upon request. 
Materials submitted must be publicly available or can be made public. 
Materials that are considered confidential; marketing materials; study 
types not included in the review; or information on indications not 
included in the review cannot be used by the Effective Health Care 
Program. This is a voluntary request for information, and all costs for 
complying with this request must be borne by the submitter.
    The draft of this review will be posted on AHRQ's EHC program Web 
site and available for public comment for a period of 4 weeks. If you 
would like to be notified when the draft is posted, please sign up for 
the email list at: http://effectivehealthcare.AHRQ.gov/index.cfm/join-the-email-list1/.
    The systematic review will answer the following questions. This 
information is provided as background. AHRQ is not requesting that the 
public provide answers to these questions. The entire research 
protocol, is also available online at: http://effectivehealthcare.AHRQ.gov/search-for-guides-reviews-and-reports/?pageaction=displayproduct&productID=1906#8766.

Key Questions (KQs)

    1. What methods are available to clinicians to diagnose ME/CFS and 
how do the use of these methods vary by patient subgroups?
    A. What are widely accepted diagnostic methods and what conditions 
are required to be ruled out or excluded before assigning a diagnosis 
of ME/CFS?
    B. What is the accuracy and concordance of diagnostic methods?
    C. What harms are associated with diagnosing ME/CFS?
    2. What are the (a) benefits and (b) harms of therapeutic 
interventions for patients with ME/CFS and how do they vary by patient 
subgroups?
    A. What are the characteristics of responders and non-responders to 
interventions?

PICOTS (Population, Intervention, Comparator(s), Outcomes, Timing, 
Setting)

Population(s)

    1. Include:

A. For KQ 1: Symptomatic adults (aged 18 years or older) with fatigue
B. For KQ 2: Adults aged 18 years or older, with ME/CFS, without other 
underlying diagnosis

    2. Exclude:

A. Children and adolescents
B. Patients with other underlying diagnosis

Interventions

    1. Include:

A. For KQ1: Case definitions: e.g., Fukada/CDC, Canadian, International 
and others
For KQ2: symptom-based medication management (immune modulators, beta 
blockers, antidepressants, anxiolytics, stimulants), forms of 
counseling and behavior therapy, graded exercise programs, 
complementary and alternative medicine (acupuncture, relaxation, 
massage, or other), and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation.

Comparators

    1. Include:

A. For KQ1: Diagnostic accuracy studies and diagnostic concordance 
studies with comparators
B. For KQ2: Placebo or no treatment/usual care, other active 
interventions (including combination therapies and head-to-head trials)

Outcomes

    1. Include:

A. For KQ1: Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, 
negative predictive value, positive likelihood ratio, negative 
likelihood ratio, C statistic (AUROC), net reclassification index; 
concordance, any potential harm from diagnosis (such as psychological 
harms, labeling, risk from diagnostic test, misdiagnosis, other)
B. For KQ2: Overall function (i.e., 36-item Short Form Survey [SF-36]), 
quality of life, days spent at work/school, proportion working full or 
part time, fatigue (Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory [MFI] or 
similar), adverse effects of interventions, withdrawals and withdrawals 
due to adverse events, rates of adverse events due to interventions

Timing

    1. Include: 12 weeks or longer

Setting

    1. Include: Clinical settings

    Dated: June 3, 2014.
Richard Kronick,
AHRQ Director.
[FR Doc. 2014-14084 Filed 6-16-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-M