Takken, T, Henneken, T, van de Putte, E et al. · International journal of sports medicine · 2007 · DOI
This study tested how well 20 young people with ME/CFS could exercise on a stationary bike and measured their oxygen use. The researchers found that most of these young people had similar exercise capacity to healthy peers their age, though a smaller group showed reduced fitness. The amount of fatigue they experienced was related to how active they were in daily life.
This study is important because it challenges assumptions about exercise capacity in pediatric ME/CFS by showing that most young patients retain relatively normal absolute exercise capacity despite reduced relative fitness. Understanding which patients have objectively reduced versus preserved exercise capacity may help guide individualized management approaches and inform discussions about post-exertional malaise versus deconditioning.
This study does not prove whether reduced relative oxygen uptake reflects pathophysiology of ME/CFS or results from deconditioning due to activity restriction. It does not establish whether a single maximal exercise test can predict post-exertional malaise (PEM), which requires assessment of symptom responses after exercise. The small sample size and lack of control group limits generalizability to the broader pediatric ME/CFS population.
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
Takken, T, Henneken, T, van de Putte, E, Helders, P, & Engelbert, R (2007). Exercise testing in children and adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome.. International journal of sports medicine. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-2007-964888
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-takken-2007-exercise-testing,
author = {Takken, T and Henneken, T and van de Putte, E and Helders, P and Engelbert, R},
title = {Exercise testing in children and adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {International journal of sports medicine},
year = {2007},
doi = {10.1055/s-2007-964888},
note = {PubMed: 17357961},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/takken-2007-exercise-testing},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/takken-2007-exercise-testing
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