van Campen, C Linda M C, Rowe, Peter C, Visser, Frans C · Frontiers in pediatrics · 2018 · DOI
Many people with ME/CFS experience dizziness and rapid heartbeat when standing up, a condition called POTS. This study found that when doctors use shortened tilt table tests (lasting only 2 minutes) to diagnose POTS, they miss more than half of the patients who actually have it. The researchers recommend using the full 10-minute test instead of the abbreviated version to properly identify POTS in ME/CFS patients.
Orthostatic intolerance is a core feature in many ME/CFS case definitions, making accurate POTS diagnosis clinically important. This study demonstrates that abbreviated tilt testing substantially underdiagnoses POTS and could lead to missed cases in both clinical practice and epidemiologic research, affecting prevalence estimates and patient management decisions.
This study does not prove that POTS causes ME/CFS or vice versa—only that the two conditions frequently co-occur in this population. It does not establish optimal tilt testing protocols across all patient populations or other healthcare settings, and the single-center design limits generalizability to other geographic regions or clinical contexts.
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
van Campen, C Linda M C, Rowe, Peter C, & Visser, Frans C (2018). Low Sensitivity of Abbreviated Tilt Table Testing for Diagnosing Postural Tachycardia Syndrome in Adults With ME/CFS.. Frontiers in pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2018.00349
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-van-campen-2018-low-sensitivity,
author = {van Campen, C Linda M C and Rowe, Peter C and Visser, Frans C},
title = {Low Sensitivity of Abbreviated Tilt Table Testing for Diagnosing Postural Tachycardia Syndrome in Adults With ME/CFS.},
journal = {Frontiers in pediatrics},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.3389/fped.2018.00349},
note = {PubMed: 30505831},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/van-campen-2018-low-sensitivity},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/van-campen-2018-low-sensitivity
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