Jason, Leonard A, Torres, Chelsea · Journal of clinical medicine · 2022 · DOI
This study looked at whether ME/CFS symptoms differ between Black and White patients. Researchers compared 19 Black patients with ME/CFS to White patients with ME/CFS and healthy people without the condition. They found that ME/CFS patients had notably different symptoms compared to healthy controls, but Black and White ME/CFS patients reported very similar symptom patterns.
ME/CFS research has historically underrepresented Black patients, limiting our understanding of how the disease presents across diverse populations. This study helps fill that gap by directly comparing symptom experiences, which is important for ensuring that diagnostic criteria and clinical care are equitable across racial groups.
This study does not establish whether racial differences in disease incidence, severity, or outcomes exist outside of symptom reporting. It also cannot determine whether similar symptom profiles reflect identical underlying biological mechanisms, and the small sample size means findings may not generalize to broader populations of Black ME/CFS patients.
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
Jason, Leonard A & Torres, Chelsea (2022). Differences in Symptoms among Black and White Patients with ME/CFS.. Journal of clinical medicine. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11226708
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-jason-2022-differences-symptoms,
author = {Jason, Leonard A and Torres, Chelsea},
title = {Differences in Symptoms among Black and White Patients with ME/CFS.},
journal = {Journal of clinical medicine},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.3390/jcm11226708},
note = {PubMed: 36431185},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/jason-2022-differences-symptoms},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/jason-2022-differences-symptoms
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