van Campen, C Linda Mc, Rowe, Peter C, Visser, Frans C · Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020 · DOI
This study tested how exercise affects female ME/CFS patients with different disease severity levels. Researchers had 82 women complete exercise tests on two consecutive days and measured how much oxygen their bodies could use and how much work they could do. Patients with severe ME/CFS showed the biggest drop in exercise capacity between day one and day two, suggesting their bodies recover more poorly from physical activity.
This is the first study demonstrating that ME/CFS disease severity directly correlates with exercise intolerance across multiple physiologic parameters. The findings validate the 2-day CPET protocol as a discriminating tool and suggest that severe ME/CFS patients experience disproportionate post-exertional symptom exacerbation, which may help clinicians risk-stratify patients and inform management strategies.
This study does not establish causation between disease severity and exercise deterioration—only correlation. It cannot determine whether the mechanisms underlying exercise intolerance differ by severity. Results apply only to female patients and may not generalize to male ME/CFS populations. The study cannot predict individual patient outcomes or identify which biological mechanisms drive the observed declines.
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 Mc, Rowe, Peter C, & Visser, Frans C (2020). Two-Day Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing in Females with a Severe Grade of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Comparison with Patients with Mild and Moderate Disease.. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland). https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare8030192
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-van-campen-2020-two-day,
author = {van Campen, C Linda Mc and Rowe, Peter C and Visser, Frans C},
title = {Two-Day Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing in Females with a Severe Grade of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Comparison with Patients with Mild and Moderate Disease.},
journal = {Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland)},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.3390/healthcare8030192},
note = {PubMed: 32629923},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/van-campen-2020-two-day},
}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-2020-two-day
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.