Boneva, Roumiana S, Lin, Jin-Mann S, Maloney, Elizabeth M et al. · Health and quality of life outcomes · 2009 · DOI
This study looked at what medications and supplements people with ME/CFS were taking compared to healthy people and those with other chronic illnesses. Researchers found that over 90% of people with ME/CFS used at least one medication or supplement, and they used significantly more drugs overall—an average of 5.8 compared to 3.7 in healthy people. People with ME/CFS were more likely to take antidepressants, sleep aids, muscle relaxants, and pain relievers.
This study documents the substantial medication burden borne by ME/CFS patients and raises important questions about drug interactions and unintended adverse effects in a vulnerable population without curative treatments. Understanding polypharmacy patterns helps clinicians recognize potential risks and prioritize careful medication review in their ME/CFS patients.
This study does not establish whether the medications were effective, harmful, or necessary—only that they were being used. It does not prove causation between medication use and ME/CFS severity or outcomes, and the cross-sectional design cannot determine whether polypharmacy results from CFS symptoms or contributes to them. The study also cannot assess medication adherence or actual ingestion.
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
Boneva, Roumiana S, Lin, Jin-Mann S, Maloney, Elizabeth M, Jones, James F, & Reeves, William C (2009). Use of medications by people with chronic fatigue syndrome and healthy persons: a population-based study of fatiguing illness in Georgia.. Health and quality of life outcomes. https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-7525-7-67
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-boneva-2009-use-medications,
author = {Boneva, Roumiana S and Lin, Jin-Mann S and Maloney, Elizabeth M and Jones, James F and Reeves, William C},
title = {Use of medications by people with chronic fatigue syndrome and healthy persons: a population-based study of fatiguing illness in Georgia.},
journal = {Health and quality of life outcomes},
year = {2009},
doi = {10.1186/1477-7525-7-67},
note = {PubMed: 19619330},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/boneva-2009-use-medications},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/boneva-2009-use-medications
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.