Vercoulen, J H, Hommes, O R, Swanink, C M et al. · Archives of neurology · 1996 · DOI
This study compared fatigue in three groups: people with MS, people with ME/CFS, and healthy people. The researchers found that both MS and ME/CFS patients experienced severe fatigue that affected their daily life. Interestingly, psychological factors like how much someone focuses on their body sensations and whether they feel in control of their symptoms seemed to influence fatigue severity in both diseases.
This study provides evidence that ME/CFS-related fatigue shares key characteristics with MS fatigue—particularly its impact on daily function and its relationship to psychological factors rather than objective disease measures. Understanding these shared mechanisms may help identify interventions targeting symptom perception and control, which could benefit ME/CFS patients regardless of disease etiology.
This study does not prove that fatigue in MS and ME/CFS have identical underlying causes, only that they share similar phenomenological and psychological profiles. The cross-sectional design cannot establish whether psychological factors cause fatigue severity or whether fatigue leads to changes in psychological state. The study also does not determine whether somatization is adaptive or maladaptive in either condition.
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
Vercoulen, J H, Hommes, O R, Swanink, C M, Jongen, P J, Fennis, J F, Galama, J M, et al. (1996). The measurement of fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis. A multidimensional comparison with patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and healthy subjects.. Archives of neurology. https://doi.org/10.1001/archneur.1996.00550070080014
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-vercoulen-1996-measurement-fatigue,
author = {Vercoulen, J H and Hommes, O R and Swanink, C M and Jongen, P J and Fennis, J F and Galama, J M and van der Meer, J W and Bleijenberg, G},
title = {The measurement of fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis. A multidimensional comparison with patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and healthy subjects.},
journal = {Archives of neurology},
year = {1996},
doi = {10.1001/archneur.1996.00550070080014},
note = {PubMed: 8929171},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/vercoulen-1996-measurement-fatigue},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-27. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/vercoulen-1996-measurement-fatigue
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.