Muirhead, Nina L, Vyas, Jui, Ephgrave, Rachel et al. · Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024 · DOI
This study surveyed 876 people with ME/CFS from 26 countries to understand how the condition affects their daily lives. People with ME/CFS reported very poor quality of life, with an average health rating of 36 out of 100. The most common problems were difficulty doing everyday activities (97%), pain (92%), and trouble with movement (83%).
This large international study provides robust evidence of the profound impact ME/CFS has on patients' quality of life, challenging misconceptions that psychological factors dominate the condition. The findings support the recognition of ME/CFS as a serious physical illness characterized primarily by functional disability rather than psychiatric comorbidity.
This cross-sectional survey cannot establish causation or temporal relationships between ME/CFS symptoms and quality of life decline. The study relies on self-reported diagnoses and online participation, which may introduce selection bias toward those with internet access and may not fully represent the most severely affected patients.
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
Muirhead, Nina L, Vyas, Jui, Ephgrave, Rachel, Singh, Ravinder, & Finlay, Andrew Y (2024). Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Impact on Quality of Life (QoL) of Persons with ME/CFS.. Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania). https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina60081215
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-muirhead-2024-myalgic-encephalomyelitis,
author = {Muirhead, Nina L and Vyas, Jui and Ephgrave, Rachel and Singh, Ravinder and Finlay, Andrew Y},
title = {Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Impact on Quality of Life (QoL) of Persons with ME/CFS.},
journal = {Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.3390/medicina60081215},
note = {PubMed: 39202496},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/muirhead-2024-myalgic-encephalomyelitis},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-27. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/muirhead-2024-myalgic-encephalomyelitis
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