Rauwerda, Nynke L, Kuut, Tanja A, Braamse, Annemarie M J et al. · Journal of psychosomatic research · 2024 · DOI
This study looked at sleep problems in people with long COVID fatigue and compared them to people with ME/CFS. Researchers found that 64% of long COVID patients had clinically significant insomnia, and their sleep problems were closely linked to depression and age. While long COVID patients slept slightly less than ME/CFS patients on average, both groups struggled significantly with sleep quality and nighttime insomnia.
This study clarifies that insomnia is a major, often under-recognized feature of post-COVID-19 fatigue that requires specific clinical attention. Because post-COVID-19 fatigue and ME/CFS share overlapping symptoms, understanding their distinct sleep profiles helps clinicians differentiate between conditions and tailor treatment appropriately for patients with either diagnosis.
This study does not establish whether insomnia causes fatigue or whether fatigue causes insomnia—the temporal relationship remains unclear. The cross-sectional design cannot determine causality or whether treating insomnia will improve post-COVID fatigue symptoms. Additionally, findings are specific to these two patient groups and may not generalize to broader post-COVID populations.
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
Rauwerda, Nynke L, Kuut, Tanja A, Braamse, Annemarie M J, Csorba, Irene, Nieuwkerk, Pythia, van Straten, Annemieke, et al. (2024). Insomnia and sleep characteristics in post COVID-19 fatigue: A cross-sectional case-controlled study.. Journal of psychosomatic research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2023.111522
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-rauwerda-2024-insomnia-sleep,
author = {Rauwerda, Nynke L and Kuut, Tanja A and Braamse, Annemarie M J and Csorba, Irene and Nieuwkerk, Pythia and van Straten, Annemieke and Knoop, Hans},
title = {Insomnia and sleep characteristics in post COVID-19 fatigue: A cross-sectional case-controlled study.},
journal = {Journal of psychosomatic research},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.1016/j.jpsychores.2023.111522},
note = {PubMed: 38113796},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/rauwerda-2024-insomnia-sleep},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/rauwerda-2024-insomnia-sleep
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