Knight, Sarah, Harvey, Adrienne, Towns, Susan et al. · Journal of paediatrics and child health · 2014 · DOI
This study asked Australian pediatricians how they diagnose and treat children with ME/CFS. Only 39% of the doctors who responded said they actually diagnose and manage this condition, and they used very different approaches from each other. The doctors found that children with ME/CFS often also have anxiety, depression, and other conditions, and most used a team approach involving teachers, physiotherapists, and psychologists.
This study highlights significant inconsistency in how pediatric ME/CFS is diagnosed and managed across an entire country, pointing to critical gaps in clinical training and evidence-based guidelines. Understanding current practices is essential for identifying barriers to optimal care and informing the development of standardized pediatric ME/CFS management protocols. The findings underscore the need for improved education and resources to ensure children receive consistent, evidence-based care.
This study does not establish which diagnostic or management approaches are most effective—it only describes what doctors are currently doing. It does not prove that the variability in practice is harmful or beneficial, nor does it determine whether co-occurring conditions like anxiety and depression are causes or consequences of ME/CFS. The findings reflect Australian practice only and may not generalize to other countries.
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
Knight, Sarah, Harvey, Adrienne, Towns, Susan, Payne, Donald, Lubitz, Lionel, Rowe, Kathy, et al. (2014). How is paediatric chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis diagnosed and managed by paediatricians? An Australian Paediatric Research Network Study.. Journal of paediatrics and child health. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpc.12677
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-knight-2014-how-paediatric,
author = {Knight, Sarah and Harvey, Adrienne and Towns, Susan and Payne, Donald and Lubitz, Lionel and Rowe, Kathy and Reveley, Colette and Hennel, Sabine and Hiscock, Harriet and Scheinberg, Adam},
title = {How is paediatric chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis diagnosed and managed by paediatricians? An Australian Paediatric Research Network Study.},
journal = {Journal of paediatrics and child health},
year = {2014},
doi = {10.1111/jpc.12677},
note = {PubMed: 25041646},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/knight-2014-how-paediatric},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/knight-2014-how-paediatric
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