Evidence browser

E2 ModerateBehavioralPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

What is the occupational impact of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome for adults living in Australia?

Thomas, Roshni, Hughes, Julie, Kotzur, Cheryl·The British journal of occupational therapy·2024

This study looked at how ME/CFS affects the ability of Australian adults to work and participate in daily activities. Researchers surveyed 29 people with ME/CFS about their work, hobbies, and self-care routines using a standardized assessment tool. The results showed that people with ME/CFS experienced significant reductions in activities across all areas of life and reported feeling isolated, trapped, burdened, and disconnected from their former roles.

[The Significance of Chronic Fatigue in the Post-Covid Consultation and its Consequences for Outpatient Rehabilitation in the Context of Statutory Accident Insurance].

Dalichau, Stefan, Kordy, Henrike, Klüver, Janna et al.·Psychotherapie, Psychosomatik, medizinische Psychologie·2024

This study looked at 454 people (mostly women aged 40–60) who developed long-term fatigue after COVID-19. Nearly all of them reported severe tiredness, and over 73% also experienced brain fog. The fatigue lasted about 14–15 months on average and significantly affected their ability to work and enjoy daily life. The researchers recommend that treatment should focus on managing chronic fatigue similar to ME/CFS, using education and practical coping strategies rather than trying to 'cure' the condition.

Cognitive Impairment

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Cognitive reserve as a protective factor against cognitive impairment in chronic fatigue syndrome.

Surendran, Gopika, Jose, Tony P·Applied neuropsychology. Adult·2024

This study examined whether people's life experiences and education—called 'cognitive reserve'—help protect them from the thinking and memory problems common in ME/CFS. Researchers tested 91 people with ME/CFS and found that those with more cognitive reserve had fewer cognitive problems. The severity of someone's ME/CFS was the main factor affecting both cognitive reserve and cognitive problems, rather than age or gender.

Cognitive Impairment

Association of physical symptoms with accelerometer-measured movement behaviors and functional capacity in individuals with Long COVID.

Rosa-Souza, Francisco José, Freire, Yuri Alberto, Galliano, Leony Morgana et al.·Scientific reports·2024

This study looked at 102 people with Long COVID to understand how specific symptoms affect their ability to move and be physically active. Researchers used activity trackers to measure daily movement and tested how far people could walk and how quickly they could stand up from a chair. They found that fatigue and post-exertional malaise (feeling worse after activity) were linked to lower daily step counts, while shortness of breath was linked to poorer performance on physical tests.

E2 ModerateCohortPEM unclearLongitudinal

Muscle abnormalities worsen after post-exertional malaise in long COVID.

Appelman, Brent, Charlton, Braeden T, Goulding, Richie P et al.·Nature communications·2024

This study looked at muscle tissue changes in long COVID patients, particularly focusing on post-exertional malaise (PEM)—the worsening of fatigue and pain after activity. Researchers found that muscles in long COVID patients showed structural damage, metabolic problems, and unusual deposits that got worse after activity triggered PEM. These findings help explain why exertion makes symptoms worse in some long COVID patients.

Energy MetabolismPost-Exertional Malaise

Two Different Hemodynamic Responses in ME/CFS Patients with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome During Head-Up Tilt Testing.

van Campen, C Linda M C, Rowe, Peter C, Visser, Frans C·Journal of clinical medicine·2024

This study looked at how the bodies of ME/CFS patients with POTS (a condition causing rapid heart rate when standing) respond to positional changes differently than healthy people. Researchers found that ME/CFS patients with POTS fall into two groups: those with a smaller heart rate increase appear to have blood pooling in their legs, while those with a larger heart rate increase seem to have an overactive stress response system. These two different patterns might benefit from different treatments.

Autonomic Nervous System

Gut MicrobiomeImmune System

Systemic antibody responses against gut microbiota flagellins implicate shared and divergent immune reactivity in Crohn's disease and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Bourgonje, Arno R, Hörstke, Nicolai V, Fehringer, Michaela et al.·Microbiome·2024

This study looked at immune responses in ME/CFS and Crohn's disease patients by measuring antibodies against proteins from gut bacteria called flagellins. Researchers found that both patient groups had elevated antibodies against these bacterial proteins, but the pattern of where these antibodies attached differed between the two diseases. These antibody patterns could potentially help doctors diagnose ME/CFS and understand how the immune system may be responding abnormally to gut bacteria.

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Impact on Quality of Life (QoL) of Persons with ME/CFS.

Muirhead, Nina L, Vyas, Jui, Ephgrave, Rachel et al.·Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)·2024

This study surveyed 876 people with ME/CFS from 26 countries to understand how the condition affects their daily lives. People with ME/CFS reported very poor quality of life, with an average health rating of 36 out of 100. The most common problems were difficulty doing everyday activities (97%), pain (92%), and trouble with movement (83%).

Pain and Sensitization

Comparison of T-cell receptor diversity of people with myalgic encephalomyelitis versus controls.

Dibble, Joshua J, Ferneyhough, Ben, Roddis, Matthew et al.·BMC research notes·2024

Researchers studied immune cells called T-cells in people with ME/CFS to see if they were different from those in healthy people. They looked at genetic patterns in blood samples from 40 people in each group: those severely affected by ME/CFS, those mildly or moderately affected, people with multiple sclerosis, and healthy controls. Although they used advanced technology and computer programs to analyze the data, they found that the T-cell patterns were not notably different between the groups.

Immune System

Immunological Patient Stratification in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Rohrhofer, Johanna, Hauser, Lisa, Lettenmaier, Lisa et al.·Journal of clinical medicine·2024

This study found that ME/CFS patients have different types of immune system problems. Researchers divided patients into two groups: those with weakened immune systems and those with normal immune systems. The two groups showed different patterns of illness—one group had low levels of a protective immune protein, while the other group had signs that their gut barrier was leaking. This suggests that ME/CFS may not be one disease but rather multiple conditions that need different treatment approaches.

Immune System

E2 ModerateCohortPEM unclearCase-Control

Psychometric evaluation of the DePaul Symptom Questionnaire-Short Form (DSQ-SF) among adults with Long COVID, ME/CFS, and healthy controls: A machine learning approach.

McGarrigle, William J, Furst, Jacob, Jason, Leonard A·Journal of health psychology·2024

Researchers tested whether a symptom questionnaire called the DSQ-SF can accurately identify and distinguish between Long COVID, ME/CFS, and healthy people. Using computer algorithms to analyze the results, they found the questionnaire works well at telling these groups apart and identified which specific symptoms are most helpful for telling Long COVID and ME/CFS apart from each other and from normal health.

Diagnostics

Hypothalamus Connectivity in Adolescent Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Byrne, Hollie, Knight, Sarah J, Josev, Elisha K et al.·Journal of neuroscience research·2024

Researchers used brain imaging (MRI) to look at a small brain region called the hypothalamus in teenagers with ME/CFS compared to healthy teenagers. They found some differences in how the hypothalamus connects to other parts of the brain in people with ME/CFS, and these differences appeared related to how long someone had been sick and how severe their fatigue was. This is one of the first studies to examine this specific brain region in adolescents with ME/CFS.

SleepPost-Exertional Malaise

Pediatric Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection.

Jason, Leonard A, Johnson, Madeline, Torres, Chelsea·Fatigue : biomedicine, health & behavior·2023

This study compared young people recovering from long COVID (PASC) with young people who have ME/CFS to understand how their symptoms differ. Researchers asked 19 parents about their child's symptoms during initial COVID infection and again later, then compared these to 19 young people with ME/CFS. Most PASC symptoms improved over time, but fatigue and sleep problems stayed high—similar to what ME/CFS patients experience.

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): A preliminary survey among patients in Switzerland.

Tschopp, Rea, König, Rahel S, Rejmer, Protazy et al.·Heliyon·2023

This Swiss study surveyed 169 ME/CFS patients to understand their experiences with the illness. Most patients were women, many couldn't work, and about half said their condition was getting worse over time. The study found that infections—especially viral ones like Epstein-Barr virus—often happened before people developed ME/CFS, and patients reported many different symptoms that got worse with certain triggers.

Post-exertional malaise among people with long COVID compared to myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

Vernon, Suzanne D, Hartle, Megan, Sullivan, Karen et al.·Work (Reading, Mass.)·2023

This study looked at whether people with Long COVID experience post-exertional malaise (PEM)—a hallmark symptom of ME/CFS where symptoms get worse after physical or mental activity. Researchers surveyed 80 Long COVID patients and compared their experiences to 151 ME/CFS patients. Nearly all Long COVID patients reported having PEM, but the way they experienced it differed significantly from ME/CFS patients in terms of what triggered it, which symptoms appeared, and how to recover.

E2 ModerateCohortPEM not requiredLongitudinal

Recovery and symptom trajectories up to two years after SARS-CoV-2 infection: population based, longitudinal cohort study.

Ballouz, Tala, Menges, Dominik, Anagnostopoulos, Alexia et al.·BMJ (Clinical research ed.)·2023

This Swiss study followed over 1,100 people who had COVID-19 and compared them to people who never had the infection, tracking their recovery for two years. About 23% of infected people had not fully recovered by six months, and this number decreased only slightly to 17% by two years. Symptoms like loss of taste/smell, difficulty concentrating, fatigue, and post-exertional malaise (feeling worse after physical activity) were significantly more common in people who had COVID-19 compared to those who didn't.

E2 ModerateBehavioralPEM not requiredCross-Sectional

End-Tidal CO2 in Patients with Panic Disorder, Stress-Related or Functional Syndromes, Versus Healthy Controls.

Ramakers, Indra, Van Den Houte, Maaike, Van Oudenhove, Lukas et al.·Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback·2023

This study looked at how people with ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, burnout, and panic disorder breathe differently compared to healthy people. Researchers measured carbon dioxide levels in participants' breath while they rested and during a breathing challenge. They found that people with chronic conditions like ME/CFS showed less active stress responses in their breathing, while those with acute stress conditions showed overactive breathing patterns.

Autonomic Nervous System

E2 ModerateCohortPEM unclearLongitudinal

Predictors of impaired functioning among long COVID patients.

Jason, Leonard A, Dorri, Joseph A·Work (Reading, Mass.)·2023

This study followed Long COVID patients from their first two weeks of illness through about five months later to understand which early symptoms predict worse long-term outcomes. Researchers found that people who experienced problems with their autonomic nervous system (heart rate, blood pressure, temperature control) and stomach issues early on were more likely to have difficulty returning to work and family life. The same early symptoms were also linked to developing ME/CFS.