Kitani, T, Kuratsune, H, Yamaguchi, K · Nihon rinsho. Japanese journal of clinical medicine · 1992
In 1992, Japanese researchers created new diagnostic guidelines to help doctors identify ME/CFS in their patients. These guidelines were based on earlier American standards but included some modifications, such as defining less severe cases and recognizing a form that develops after infections.
Establishing clear diagnostic criteria is essential for identifying ME/CFS patients consistently and enabling accurate research and clinical care. This Japanese initiative helped standardize diagnosis internationally and recognized the postinfectious presentation, which is important for understanding disease heterogeneity.
This study does not demonstrate the causes of ME/CFS or prove the validity of the diagnostic criteria through clinical outcomes data. It does not establish whether these criteria are more or less effective than the original CDC definition at identifying the true disease population.
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
Kitani, T, Kuratsune, H, & Yamaguchi, K (1992). [Diagnostic criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome by the CFS Study Group in Japan].. Nihon rinsho. Japanese journal of clinical medicine. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1287236/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-kitani-1992-diagnostic-criteria,
author = {Kitani, T and Kuratsune, H and Yamaguchi, K},
title = {[Diagnostic criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome by the CFS Study Group in Japan].},
journal = {Nihon rinsho. Japanese journal of clinical medicine},
year = {1992},
note = {PubMed: 1287236},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/kitani-1992-diagnostic-criteria},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/kitani-1992-diagnostic-criteria
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