Miller, Ruth R, Reid, W Darlene, Mattman, Andre et al. · Journal of translational medicine · 2015 · DOI
This study tested whether a simple hand-squeezing exercise combined with a special infrared light tool could help identify ME/CFS in patients. Researchers compared 16 people with ME/CFS to 16 healthy people and measured how well oxygen was being used in their muscles during the test. People with ME/CFS showed different patterns of oxygen use and reported feeling more tired during the exercise, even though they were squeezing with less force.
This research addresses the urgent need for objective biomarkers to aid ME/CFS diagnosis, which currently relies solely on clinical criteria. The findings suggest that muscle oxygen utilization patterns during controlled submaximal exercise may help characterize ME/CFS and potentially identify patients at lower risk for post-exertional malaise, which could improve personalized exercise prescription guidelines.
This study does not establish that NIRS-measured oxygen patterns can reliably diagnose ME/CFS in clinical practice, as substantial overlap between patients and controls remained even after measurements. It does not prove causation of ME/CFS symptoms or demonstrate that this test can predict post-exertional malaise severity. The small sample size limits generalizability of findings.
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
Miller, Ruth R, Reid, W Darlene, Mattman, Andre, Yamabayashi, Cristiane, Steiner, Theodore, Parker, Shoshana, et al. (2015). Submaximal exercise testing with near-infrared spectroscopy in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients compared to healthy controls: a case-control study.. Journal of translational medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-015-0527-8
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-miller-2015-submaximal-exercise,
author = {Miller, Ruth R and Reid, W Darlene and Mattman, Andre and Yamabayashi, Cristiane and Steiner, Theodore and Parker, Shoshana and Gardy, Jennifer and Tang, Patrick and Patrick, David M},
title = {Submaximal exercise testing with near-infrared spectroscopy in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients compared to healthy controls: a case-control study.},
journal = {Journal of translational medicine},
year = {2015},
doi = {10.1186/s12967-015-0527-8},
note = {PubMed: 25990639},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/miller-2015-submaximal-exercise},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/miller-2015-submaximal-exercise
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