Krupp, L B, Jandorf, L, Coyle, P K et al. · Journal of psychosomatic research · 1993 · DOI
This study looked at sleep problems in 72 people with ME/CFS, comparing them to people with multiple sclerosis and healthy volunteers. People with ME/CFS reported much worse sleep and fatigue than the other groups. When researchers used sleep monitoring equipment on some ME/CFS patients, they found that over half had treatable sleep disorders like sleep apnea or periodic leg movements during sleep.
This research demonstrates that ME/CFS patients experience sleep disturbance as a significant clinical feature, and importantly, shows that some of these sleep problems are objectively measurable and potentially treatable. Identifying specific, addressable sleep disorders in ME/CFS patients could improve symptom management and quality of life.
This study does not establish whether sleep disorders cause ME/CFS fatigue, result from it, or are coincidental findings. The small polysomnography sample (n=16) and selection of patients who reported sleep symptoms limits generalizability to all ME/CFS patients. The cross-sectional design cannot determine temporal relationships or mechanisms.
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
Krupp, L B, Jandorf, L, Coyle, P K, & Mendelson, W B (1993). Sleep disturbance in chronic fatigue syndrome.. Journal of psychosomatic research. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-3999(93)90134-2
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-krupp-1993-sleep-disturbance,
author = {Krupp, L B and Jandorf, L and Coyle, P K and Mendelson, W B},
title = {Sleep disturbance in chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Journal of psychosomatic research},
year = {1993},
doi = {10.1016/0022-3999(93)90134-2},
note = {PubMed: 8510058},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/krupp-1993-sleep-disturbance},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/krupp-1993-sleep-disturbance
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