McCrone, P, Darbishire, L, Ridsdale, L et al. · Psychological medicine · 2003 · DOI
This study looked at how much money ME/CFS costs patients and society in the UK. Researchers tracked what healthcare services patients used over 3 months and how much work they missed. They found that ME/CFS is very expensive, costing an average of £3,515 per patient over 3 months, mostly because patients need help from family and friends and can't work, rather than from doctor visits and medical treatments.
This study quantifies the hidden economic burden of ME/CFS beyond direct medical costs, showing that informal caregiving and employment loss represent the largest financial impact. Understanding these costs helps advocate for healthcare resources, workplace accommodations, and research funding for treatments that could reduce disability and improve productivity.
This study does not establish causation or prove that ME/CFS directly causes employment loss or specific care needs—only that these costs occur together. It cannot determine whether costs are stable long-term or how they might change with treatment. The cross-sectional design captures only a 3-month snapshot and cannot track individual patients over time.
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
McCrone, P, Darbishire, L, Ridsdale, L, & Seed, P (2003). The economic cost of chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome in UK primary care.. Psychological medicine. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291702006980
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-mccrone-2003-economic-cost,
author = {McCrone, P and Darbishire, L and Ridsdale, L and Seed, P},
title = {The economic cost of chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome in UK primary care.},
journal = {Psychological medicine},
year = {2003},
doi = {10.1017/s0033291702006980},
note = {PubMed: 12622304},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/mccrone-2003-economic-cost},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/mccrone-2003-economic-cost
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