Price, E J, Venables, P J W · Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2002 · DOI
This study looked at 34 patients who had dry eyes and dry mouth symptoms but did not meet the standard criteria for Sjögren's syndrome. These patients had many symptoms on questionnaires but few objective physical findings, and most of them also had features more typical of fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome rather than Sjögren's.
This study is relevant to ME/CFS patients because it identifies a patient subgroup with high symptom burden but minimal objective findings—a pattern similar to ME/CFS—and demonstrates overlap between sicca symptoms, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome. Understanding these overlapping conditions may help clarify the pathophysiology and symptom relationships in ME/CFS.
This study does not prove that DEMS causes ME/CFS or vice versa, only that they can occur together in the same patient population. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causality or disease progression. It also does not determine whether DEMS represents a distinct disease entity or a manifestation of a broader syndrome.
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
Price, E J & Venables, P J W (2002). Dry eyes and mouth syndrome--a subgroup of patients presenting with sicca symptoms.. Rheumatology (Oxford, England). https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/41.4.416
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-price-2002-dry-eyes,
author = {Price, E J and Venables, P J W},
title = {Dry eyes and mouth syndrome--a subgroup of patients presenting with sicca symptoms.},
journal = {Rheumatology (Oxford, England)},
year = {2002},
doi = {10.1093/rheumatology/41.4.416},
note = {PubMed: 11961172},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/price-2002-dry-eyes},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/price-2002-dry-eyes
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