Wan, Hejia, Wei, Bingqi, Qian, Wenli et al. · Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2024 · DOI
This study looked at 180 research articles published between 1991 and 2024 to understand what scientists know about the costs and benefits of treating ME/CFS. The researchers found that very few studies have examined the economics of ME/CFS care, especially in China, and that cognitive-behavioral therapy is the most commonly studied treatment. They also noticed a possible link between ME/CFS and depression when looking at health economics data.
This systematic overview reveals major gaps in health economics research for ME/CFS, a condition where treatment decisions are often hindered by insufficient cost-benefit data. Understanding where research is concentrated and where it is lacking helps patients, clinicians, and funders identify priorities for generating evidence that could improve access to effective, affordable care. The finding that CBT dominates the literature despite ongoing debates about its evidence base highlights the need for economic evaluations of other promising treatments.
This is a map of published literature, not a clinical trial or outcome study; it cannot prove that any treatment is effective or cost-effective for ME/CFS. The study does not evaluate the quality or validity of the articles it analyzed, so it does not determine whether existing economic conclusions are accurate. Correlation between depression and ME/CFS in economic literature does not establish causation or whether depression is primary, secondary, or coincidental.
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
Wan, Hejia, Wei, Bingqi, Qian, Wenli, & Zhang, Jing (2024). Trends and Hotspots in the Health Economics Evaluation of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.. Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare. https://doi.org/10.2147/JMDH.S482100
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-wan-2024-trends-hotspots,
author = {Wan, Hejia and Wei, Bingqi and Qian, Wenli and Zhang, Jing},
title = {Trends and Hotspots in the Health Economics Evaluation of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.},
journal = {Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.2147/JMDH.S482100},
note = {PubMed: 39469291},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/wan-2024-trends-hotspots},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/wan-2024-trends-hotspots
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