Bakken, Inger Johanne, Tveito, Kari, Gunnes, Nina et al. · BMC medicine · 2014 · DOI
This study tracked how often ME/CFS is diagnosed in Norway between 2008 and 2012. Researchers found that about 26 people per 100,000 develop ME/CFS each year, and women are diagnosed about three times more often than men. Interestingly, the disease peaks twice: once in teenagers and again in people in their 30s, which suggests that different life stages or age-related factors may influence who gets ME/CFS.
This is one of the first large-scale, population-based studies to document the true occurrence of ME/CFS and establish key demographic patterns. The bimodal age distribution and strong female predominance provide important clues about disease triggers and mechanisms, which may guide future research into biological, hormonal, or environmental risk factors.
This study does not establish *why* women develop ME/CFS more often than men, nor does it explain what biological or environmental factors cause the two age peaks. Registry data captures only diagnosed cases seen by specialists, so actual disease occurrence in the community may be higher. The study also cannot determine whether cases represent new-onset disease or newly-recognized/diagnosed disease.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Bakken, Inger Johanne, Tveito, Kari, Gunnes, Nina, Ghaderi, Sara, Stoltenberg, Camilla, Trogstad, Lill, et al. (2014). Two age peaks in the incidence of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: a population-based registry study from Norway 2008-2012.. BMC medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-014-0167-5
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-bakken-2014-two-age,
author = {Bakken, Inger Johanne and Tveito, Kari and Gunnes, Nina and Ghaderi, Sara and Stoltenberg, Camilla and Trogstad, Lill and Håberg, Siri Eldevik and Magnus, Per},
title = {Two age peaks in the incidence of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: a population-based registry study from Norway 2008-2012.},
journal = {BMC medicine},
year = {2014},
doi = {10.1186/s12916-014-0167-5},
note = {PubMed: 25274261},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bakken-2014-two-age},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/bakken-2014-two-age
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