Mihatsch, Lorenz, Schartner, Lisa, de Luna, Julia Lange et al. · Journal of translational medicine · 2026 · DOI
Researchers tested whether handgrip strength could help identify ME/CFS in young people (ages 10–25). They asked 147 patients referred for ME/CFS assessment and 83 healthy controls to squeeze a hand-strength device twice, an hour apart. Young people with ME/CFS had weaker grip strength than healthy controls, and grip strength was loosely associated with physical functioning; however, grip strength alone could not reliably tell apart ME/CFS patients from other young people with chronic fatigue. The study shows that repeated handgrip testing is feasible and may help track how patients are doing over time, but early findings suggest it works better as a way to measure general weakness rather than as a standalone diagnostic test.
ME/CFS in young people currently lacks validated diagnostic biomarkers, and PEM assessment relies on patient self-report. This study demonstrates that repeated standardised handgrip strength testing is practical in this population and provides an objective measure of physical capacity that correlates with reported functioning, suggesting potential value for tracking disease progression and stratifying patients. However, the finding that HGS shows only moderate ability to separate ME/CFS from other fatiguing conditions highlights the need for additional or complementary biomarkers.
This observational study does not establish that handgrip strength causes or directly measures post-exertional malaise. It does not confirm HGS as a diagnostic biomarker sufficient for clinical decision-making. It does not generalise findings beyond the 147 referred patients in this single centre cohort, nor does it establish the optimal threshold or cutoff values for clinical use.
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
Mihatsch, Lorenz, Schartner, Lisa, de Luna, Julia Lange, Höhler, Chiara, Bucka, Lara, Lovrenovic, Lea, et al. (2026). Handgrip strength in children, adolescents, and young adults with suspected myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.. Journal of translational medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-026-08654-5
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-mihatsch-2026-handgrip-strength,
author = {Mihatsch, Lorenz and Schartner, Lisa and de Luna, Julia Lange and Höhler, Chiara and Bucka, Lara and Lovrenovic, Lea and Eidenschink, Sophie and Schmuck, Birgit and Bienemann, Viktoria and Christa, Catharina and Mittelstraß, Kirstin and Hausruckinger, Anna and Warlitz, Cordula and Michel, Kaja and Gerrer, Katrin and Freitag, Helma and Scheibenbogen, Carmen and Pricoco, Rafael and Behrends, Uta},
title = {Handgrip strength in children, adolescents, and young adults with suspected myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Journal of translational medicine},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.1186/s12967-026-08654-5},
note = {PubMed: 42458481},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/mihatsch-2026-handgrip-strength},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-08-17. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/mihatsch-2026-handgrip-strength
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