Rekeland, Ingrid G, Sørland, Kari, Bruland, Ove et al. · PloS one · 2022 · DOI
This study tracked 27 ME/CFS patients for six months using Fitbit activity monitors and questionnaires to understand how symptoms vary day-to-day and whether activity data matches what patients report. Researchers found that people with milder disease had larger swings in their activity levels week-to-week, while those with severe disease stayed consistently low. Activity monitoring proved feasible and useful as a tool alongside patient surveys.
ME/CFS lacks validated biomarkers, making objective measurement tools valuable for tracking disease patterns and treatment effects. This study demonstrates that continuous activity monitoring is feasible in ME/CFS populations and provides objective data that correlates with patient-experienced symptoms, potentially improving how clinicians and researchers monitor this complex condition.
This observational study cannot establish causation or prove that activity trackers should replace clinical assessment; it only demonstrates feasibility and correlation. The small sample size, lack of control group, and absence of intervention mean findings may not generalize to all ME/CFS populations. The observed activity improvement over six months does not establish whether this represents natural variation, monitoring effects, or true disease trajectories.
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
Rekeland, Ingrid G, Sørland, Kari, Bruland, Ove, Risa, Kristin, Alme, Kine, Dahl, Olav, et al. (2022). Activity monitoring and patient-reported outcome measures in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients.. PloS one. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0274472
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-rekeland-2022-activity-monitoring,
author = {Rekeland, Ingrid G and Sørland, Kari and Bruland, Ove and Risa, Kristin and Alme, Kine and Dahl, Olav and Tronstad, Karl J and Mella, Olav and Fluge, Øystein},
title = {Activity monitoring and patient-reported outcome measures in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients.},
journal = {PloS one},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0274472},
note = {PubMed: 36121803},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/rekeland-2022-activity-monitoring},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/rekeland-2022-activity-monitoring
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