Zhao, Ting, Cox, Ingrid A, Ahmad, Hasnat et al. · Australian health review : a publication of the Australian Hospital Association · 2023 · DOI
This study looked at how much money ME/CFS costs patients, their families, and Australia as a whole. Researchers surveyed 175 Australian patients and found that ME/CFS costs about $63,400 per person each year on average. Most of these costs come from lost work and productivity, plus care provided by family members, rather than from doctor visits and medicines. People with severe ME/CFS have much higher costs than those with milder forms.
Understanding the true economic burden of ME/CFS is crucial for advocacy, healthcare policy, and securing research funding. This data demonstrates that ME/CFS costs Australia billions annually, primarily through lost productivity and informal care—insights that can help policymakers recognize ME/CFS as a serious public health issue warranting greater support and investment.
This study does not establish causation or compare costs to other chronic illnesses. The convenience sampling method means results may not represent all Australian ME/CFS patients, particularly those without internet access or energy to participate. The findings reflect costs at one point in time and may not capture long-term trends in healthcare expenses.
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
Zhao, Ting, Cox, Ingrid A, Ahmad, Hasnat, Campbell, Julie A, Hensher, Martin, Palmer, Andrew J, et al. (2023). The economic burden of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome in Australia.. Australian health review : a publication of the Australian Hospital Association. https://doi.org/10.1071/AH23106
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-zhao-2023-economic-burden,
author = {Zhao, Ting and Cox, Ingrid A and Ahmad, Hasnat and Campbell, Julie A and Hensher, Martin and Palmer, Andrew J and Kelly, Ryan M and Rogerson, Melissa J and Wills, Karen and de Graaff, Barbara},
title = {The economic burden of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome in Australia.},
journal = {Australian health review : a publication of the Australian Hospital Association},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1071/AH23106},
note = {PubMed: 38011828},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/zhao-2023-economic-burden},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/zhao-2023-economic-burden
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