Farmer, Anne, Fowler, Tom, Scourfield, Jane et al. · The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · 2004 · DOI
This study looked at how common disabling fatigue is in children and teenagers aged 8-17 years old. Researchers asked parents whether their children had ever experienced periods of extreme tiredness lasting more than a few days, and then followed up with phone interviews. They found that about 2-3% of young people experienced disabling fatigue lasting at least 3 months, while about 1% met criteria similar to adult ME/CFS.
This study provides important epidemiological data on ME/CFS-like illness in children and adolescents, demonstrating that chronic disabling fatigue affects a meaningful proportion of young people and that disease burden is comparable to adults from age 11 onwards. Understanding prevalence in pediatric populations is critical for clinical recognition, resource allocation, and understanding the life-course trajectory of ME/CFS.
This study does not establish causation for ME/CFS, identify risk factors, or characterize disease mechanisms. The reliance on parental report rather than direct clinical assessment and the cross-sectional design mean the study cannot determine natural history, outcomes, or whether prevalence estimates reflect true ME/CFS or broader categories of chronic fatigue. Parental recall bias may affect accuracy of lifetime prevalence estimates.
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
Farmer, Anne, Fowler, Tom, Scourfield, Jane, & Thapar, Anita (2004). Prevalence of chronic disabling fatigue in children and adolescents.. The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.184.6.477
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-farmer-2004-prevalence-chronic,
author = {Farmer, Anne and Fowler, Tom and Scourfield, Jane and Thapar, Anita},
title = {Prevalence of chronic disabling fatigue in children and adolescents.},
journal = {The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science},
year = {2004},
doi = {10.1192/bjp.184.6.477},
note = {PubMed: 15172940},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/farmer-2004-prevalence-chronic},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/farmer-2004-prevalence-chronic
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