Reeves, William C, Jones, James F, Maloney, Elizabeth et al. · Population health metrics · 2007 · DOI
This study surveyed over 5,600 people in Georgia to find out how many have ME/CFS. Researchers found that about 2.5% of adults aged 18-59 have the condition, which is higher than estimates from other parts of the United States. Interestingly, the disease affected men and women very differently depending on whether they lived in cities or rural areas.
This is one of the few large population-based prevalence studies of ME/CFS in the United States, providing crucial epidemiologic data to help healthcare systems and policymakers understand the disease burden. The striking geographic and sex-based variations suggest that ME/CFS may be underdiagnosed in some populations or that disease expression differs by region—questions that could guide future research and clinical screening strategies.
This study does not establish causation for ME/CFS or identify what causes the disease. The cross-sectional design cannot prove why prevalence ratios differ so dramatically between geographic regions or whether differences reflect true disease prevalence, diagnostic bias, willingness to participate, or variation in case definition application. The higher overall prevalence compared to other regions may reflect methodological differences rather than true geographic variation.
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
Reeves, William C, Jones, James F, Maloney, Elizabeth, Heim, Christine, Hoaglin, David C, Boneva, Roumiana S, et al. (2007). Prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome in metropolitan, urban, and rural Georgia.. Population health metrics. https://doi.org/10.1186/1478-7954-5-5
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-reeves-2007-prevalence-chronic,
author = {Reeves, William C and Jones, James F and Maloney, Elizabeth and Heim, Christine and Hoaglin, David C and Boneva, Roumiana S and Morrissey, Marjorie and Devlin, Rebecca},
title = {Prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome in metropolitan, urban, and rural Georgia.},
journal = {Population health metrics},
year = {2007},
doi = {10.1186/1478-7954-5-5},
note = {PubMed: 17559660},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/reeves-2007-prevalence-chronic},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/reeves-2007-prevalence-chronic
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