Hempel, S, Chambers, D, Bagnall, A-M et al. · Psychological medicine · 2008 · DOI
This study looked at 11 different research projects to find out what factors might make someone more likely to develop ME/CFS. The researchers examined many potential risk factors including physical health history, emotional wellbeing, social circumstances, and environmental exposures. Unfortunately, the studies didn't consistently agree on which factors were actually important, and no single risk factor was strong enough or reliable enough to help doctors predict who would develop ME/CFS.
Understanding what causes ME/CFS is crucial for developing better prevention strategies and early interventions. By systematically reviewing what is known about risk factors, this study helps identify gaps in our knowledge and could guide future research priorities to ultimately help at-risk individuals.
This study does not prove that any specific factor actually causes ME/CFS—it only reviews what other studies have found. The lack of consistent findings across studies does not mean risk factors don't exist; it means existing research hasn't yet identified them reliably or studied the same factors in comparable ways.
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
Hempel, S, Chambers, D, Bagnall, A-M, & Forbes, C (2008). Risk factors for chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: a systematic scoping review of multiple predictor studies.. Psychological medicine. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291707001602
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-hempel-2008-risk-factors,
author = {Hempel, S and Chambers, D and Bagnall, A-M and Forbes, C},
title = {Risk factors for chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: a systematic scoping review of multiple predictor studies.},
journal = {Psychological medicine},
year = {2008},
doi = {10.1017/S0033291707001602},
note = {PubMed: 17892624},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hempel-2008-risk-factors},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hempel-2008-risk-factors
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