Campagne, Julien, Fornasieri, Isabelle, Andreani, Barbara et al. · Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022 · DOI
Researchers surveyed French ME/CFS patients to see how many met the newer diagnostic criteria called SEID (Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease), proposed in 2015. They found that about 84% of patients in the survey met SEID criteria, and certain symptoms like unrefreshing sleep, brain fog, and problems with blood pressure changes were especially useful for identifying SEID patients. However, most patients didn't strongly prefer the new SEID name over ME/CFS, suggesting the medical community should work with patients to find better terminology.
This study demonstrates that the 2015 IOM/NAM SEID criteria are clinically useful for identifying the majority of ME/CFS patients, while highlighting the ongoing importance of patient perspectives in refining diagnostic definitions. It emphasizes that effective disease terminology requires collaborative input from both clinicians and the patient community.
This study does not establish that SEID criteria are superior to previous ME/CFS definitions, nor does it validate SEID criteria against objective biomarkers—it only shows how many patients meet the criteria. The findings are not generalizable beyond French association members and cannot determine whether SEID and traditional ME/CFS represent distinct entities or a spectrum of the same condition.
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
Campagne, Julien, Fornasieri, Isabelle, Andreani, Barbara, Eginard, Monique, & de Korwin, Jean-Dominique (2022). Separating Patients with SEID from Those with CFS in the French ME/CFS Association, with Some Thoughts on Nomenclature.. Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland). https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics12051095
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-campagne-2022-separating-patients,
author = {Campagne, Julien and Fornasieri, Isabelle and Andreani, Barbara and Eginard, Monique and de Korwin, Jean-Dominique},
title = {Separating Patients with SEID from Those with CFS in the French ME/CFS Association, with Some Thoughts on Nomenclature.},
journal = {Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland)},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.3390/diagnostics12051095},
note = {PubMed: 35626248},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/campagne-2022-separating-patients},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/campagne-2022-separating-patients
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