Devendorf, Andrew R, Jackson, Carly T, Sunnquist, Madison et al. · Journal of health psychology · 2019 · DOI
This study interviewed 13 doctors who treat ME/CFS to understand the challenges they face when trying to measure whether patients are getting better. The researchers found four main areas that make recovery difficult to assess: differences in how the illness affects people at different ages, the fact that ME/CFS shows up differently in different patients, trouble keeping track of patients over time, and practical difficulties in measuring improvement.
This study addresses a fundamental gap in ME/CFS research: how to properly define and measure recovery. By identifying real-world challenges that physicians encounter, it provides practical guidance for researchers designing treatment trials and recovery criteria that will be clinically meaningful and scientifically valid for this complex, heterogeneous condition.
This study does not test any treatments or establish what actually causes recovery in ME/CFS patients. It is a methodological exploration based on physician interviews only, so it does not represent patient experiences or validate any specific recovery definitions. The findings are recommendations for future research design rather than established scientific facts about recovery mechanisms.
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
Devendorf, Andrew R, Jackson, Carly T, Sunnquist, Madison, & Jason, Leonard A (2019). Approaching recovery from myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome: Challenges to consider in research and practice.. Journal of health psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105317742195
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-devendorf-2019-approaching-recovery,
author = {Devendorf, Andrew R and Jackson, Carly T and Sunnquist, Madison and Jason, Leonard A},
title = {Approaching recovery from myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome: Challenges to consider in research and practice.},
journal = {Journal of health psychology},
year = {2019},
doi = {10.1177/1359105317742195},
note = {PubMed: 29182007},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/devendorf-2019-approaching-recovery},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/devendorf-2019-approaching-recovery
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