Haider, Saman, Janowski, Adam J, Lesnak, Joseph B et al. · Pain · 2023 · DOI
This study surveyed 707 people with post-COVID-19, fibromyalgia, and/or ME/CFS to compare their symptoms. Researchers found that all three conditions share similar patterns of pain, fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, and depression that impact daily life. People with post-COVID-19 reported somewhat less severe pain and fatigue than those with fibromyalgia or ME/CFS, but those with multiple diagnoses had worse symptoms overall.
This study helps establish that post-COVID-19 shares a clinical phenotype with ME/CFS and fibromyalgia, which may validate the experiences of post-COVID-19 patients and inform treatment approaches. Understanding symptom similarities across these conditions could accelerate research into shared biological mechanisms and facilitate development of targeted therapies. It highlights that a biopsychosocial management approach may benefit multiple post-viral/chronic conditions.
This study does not establish whether post-COVID-19, fibromyalgia, and ME/CFS share the same underlying biological cause—only that symptoms overlap. The cross-sectional design cannot determine whether symptoms worsen or improve over time, or whether the psychological symptoms (anxiety, depression) are causes or consequences of the physical illness. It also does not prove that current fibromyalgia or ME/CFS treatments would be effective for post-COVID-19.
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 →
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Primary citation
Haider, Saman, Janowski, Adam J, Lesnak, Joseph B, Hayashi, Kazuhiro, Dailey, Dana L, Chimenti, Ruth, et al. (2023). A comparison of pain, fatigue, and function between post-COVID-19 condition, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome: a survey study.. Pain. https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002711
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-haider-2023-comparison-pain,
author = {Haider, Saman and Janowski, Adam J and Lesnak, Joseph B and Hayashi, Kazuhiro and Dailey, Dana L and Chimenti, Ruth and Frey-Law, Laura A and Sluka, Kathleen A and Berardi, Giovanni},
title = {A comparison of pain, fatigue, and function between post-COVID-19 condition, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome: a survey study.},
journal = {Pain},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002711},
note = {PubMed: 36006296},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/haider-2023-comparison-pain},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/haider-2023-comparison-pain
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