Rasouli, Omid, Stensdotter, Ann-Katrin, Van der Meer, Audrey L H · Clinical biomechanics (Bristol, Avon) · 2016 · DOI
This study looked at how people with ME/CFS and fibromyalgia balance themselves when they start to walk. Using special equipment that measures foot pressure, researchers found that patients with both conditions had more difficulty controlling their weight shift onto one foot compared to healthy people. This suggests that balance problems in these conditions aren't just about standing still—they also affect the dynamic movements needed for everyday activities like walking.
This is one of the first studies to examine dynamic balance control—not just static standing—in ME/CFS patients, revealing that postural problems extend to active movements. Understanding these balance deficits may help explain fall risk, physical dysfunction, and exercise intolerance in ME/CFS, and could inform rehabilitation approaches. The findings suggest that even basic functional movements like gait initiation are compromised in these conditions.
This study does not establish what causes the balance impairment or whether it contributes to symptoms like fatigue or post-exertional malaise. The small, female-only sample limits generalizability to male patients and larger populations. Cross-sectional design cannot determine whether balance deficits precede symptom onset or develop as a consequence of illness.
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 →
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