Parslow, Roxanne M, Shaw, Alison, Haywood, Kirstie L et al. · BMC pediatrics · 2017 · DOI
This study asked specialist doctors and nurses who treat children with ME/CFS what they believe are the most important things to measure when checking how well a child is doing. The experts identified four key areas: symptoms (like fatigue and pain), physical ability to do things, participation in school and social activities, and emotional wellbeing. The goal is to create a better way to measure treatment success that matches what children and families actually care about.
This study bridges the gap between what clinicians observe and what matters most to children and families with ME/CFS, helping ensure future treatment assessments and clinical trials measure outcomes that are truly meaningful. By involving specialist expertise, it strengthens the case for patient-centered care in paediatric ME/CFS and supports development of better tools to track real-world improvement.
This study does not identify which treatments are effective for children with ME/CFS, nor does it test any specific interventions. It also does not establish how to measure these outcomes quantitatively or demonstrate that professionals' views match actual patient priorities in real clinical practice, though the authors note alignment with concurrent child-focused research.
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
Parslow, Roxanne M, Shaw, Alison, Haywood, Kirstie L, & Crawley, Esther (2017). Important factors to consider when treating children with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME): perspectives of health professionals from specialist services.. BMC pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-017-0799-7
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-parslow-2017-important-factors,
author = {Parslow, Roxanne M and Shaw, Alison and Haywood, Kirstie L and Crawley, Esther},
title = {Important factors to consider when treating children with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME): perspectives of health professionals from specialist services.},
journal = {BMC pediatrics},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1186/s12887-017-0799-7},
note = {PubMed: 28143516},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/parslow-2017-important-factors},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/parslow-2017-important-factors
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