de Jong, L W, Prins, J B, Fiselier, T J et al. · Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde · 1997
This study looked at ME/CFS in teenagers in the Netherlands, finding that about 10-20 out of every 100,000 teenagers have the condition. The researchers found that teenagers with ME/CFS often have long-term fatigue that significantly affects school attendance and daily life. They identified that how parents respond, a teenager's beliefs about their illness, and reduced physical activity can all make the condition last longer.
Early identification and appropriate management of ME/CFS in adolescents is critical, as this study highlights that without intervention, the condition typically follows a prolonged course. Understanding modifiable factors like parental responses and physical activity patterns provides concrete targets for clinical interventions that may prevent chronicity in young patients.
This study does not establish causal relationships between the identified factors and ME/CFS persistence—it describes associations observed in clinical practice. The recommendations for treatment (particularly regarding reduced medical attention) are clinical opinions rather than findings validated by controlled trials. The study also does not prove that psychiatric exclusion criteria are appropriate or that psychological factors are primary causes rather than consequences of prolonged illness.
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
de Jong, L W, Prins, J B, Fiselier, T J, Weemaes, C M, Meijer-van den Bergh, E M, & Bleijenberg, G (1997). [Chronic fatigue syndrome in young persons].. Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9543737/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-de-jong-1997-chronic-fatigue,
author = {de Jong, L W and Prins, J B and Fiselier, T J and Weemaes, C M and Meijer-van den Bergh, E M and Bleijenberg, G},
title = {[Chronic fatigue syndrome in young persons].},
journal = {Nederlands tijdschrift voor geneeskunde},
year = {1997},
note = {PubMed: 9543737},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/de-jong-1997-chronic-fatigue},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/de-jong-1997-chronic-fatigue
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