Wallman, Karen E, Sacco, Paul · Research in sports medicine (Print) · 2007 · DOI
This study asked whether people with ME/CFS feel more effort when doing physical tasks compared to healthy people. Researchers had both groups perform a repetitive arm exercise for 45 minutes while rating how hard it felt. People with ME/CFS reported significantly higher effort levels and produced more force than controls, even though the task was the same for everyone.
This study provides objective evidence that people with ME/CFS experience disproportionately high perceived effort during physical activity—a hallmark symptom often dismissed as psychological. Understanding the mechanistic basis of effort perception in ME/CFS is crucial for validating patient experiences and developing targeted interventions.
This study does not prove the biological mechanism underlying heightened effort perception in ME/CFS (e.g., central nervous system dysfunction vs. peripheral muscle abnormalities). It also does not establish whether this phenomenon is universal across ME/CFS populations or specific to certain disease subtypes, nor does it clarify whether the increased matching force reflects genuine neuromuscular differences or altered motor control strategies.
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
Wallman, Karen E & Sacco, Paul (2007). Sense of effort during a fatiguing exercise protocol in chronic fatigue syndrome.. Research in sports medicine (Print). https://doi.org/10.1080/15438620601184331
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-wallman-2007-sense-effort,
author = {Wallman, Karen E and Sacco, Paul},
title = {Sense of effort during a fatiguing exercise protocol in chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Research in sports medicine (Print)},
year = {2007},
doi = {10.1080/15438620601184331},
note = {PubMed: 17365951},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/wallman-2007-sense-effort},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/wallman-2007-sense-effort
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