Myers, C, Wilks, D · Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 1999 · DOI
This study compared two common questionnaires that measure quality of life and health status in people with ME/CFS. Researchers gave both questionnaires to 85 patients and found that the results from the two tests were very similar to each other. The study found that people with ME/CFS reported high levels of physical disability and moderate emotional or psychological problems.
Selecting appropriate outcome measures is critical for CFS research and clinical care. This study helped establish that the EQ-5D is a valid, efficient tool for assessing health status in ME/CFS patients, though it highlighted the need for disease-specific modifications to better capture the nuanced disability patterns in this population.
This study does not establish which questionnaire is superior for measuring CFS outcomes, nor does it prove that either instrument is ideal without modification. The cross-sectional design prevents any conclusions about how these measures track changes over time or predict clinical outcomes. The study also cannot determine whether the identified insensitivity of certain items reflects true gaps in disability or represents limitations in questionnaire design for CFS.
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
Myers, C & Wilks, D (1999). Comparison of Euroqol EQ-5D and SF-36 in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.. Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1026459027453
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-myers-1999-comparison-euroqol,
author = {Myers, C and Wilks, D},
title = {Comparison of Euroqol EQ-5D and SF-36 in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation},
year = {1999},
doi = {10.1023/a:1026459027453},
note = {PubMed: 10457734},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/myers-1999-comparison-euroqol},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/myers-1999-comparison-euroqol
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