Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Jul;3(3):127-141.
doi: 10.1080/21641846.2015.1051291.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome versus Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease

Leonard A Jason  1 , Madison Sunnquist  1 , Abigail Brown  1 , Julia L Newton  2 , Elin Bolle Strand  3 , Suzanne D Vernon  4
Affiliations

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome versus Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease

Leonard A Jason et al. Fatigue. 2015 Jul.

Abstract

Background: The Institute of Medicine has recommended a change in the name and criteria for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), renaming the illness Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease (SEID). The new SEID case definition requires substantial reductions or impairments in the ability to engage in pre-illness activities, unrefreshing sleep, post-exertional malaise, and either cognitive impairment or orthostatic intolerance.

Purpose: In the current study, samples were generated through several different methods and were used to compare this new case definition to previous case definitions for CFS, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME-ICC), Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), as well as a case definition developed through empirical methods.

Methods: We used a cross-sectional design with samples from tertiary care settings, a biobank sample, and other forums. 796 patients from the US, Great Britain, and Norway completed the DePaul Symptom Questionnaire.

Results: Findings indicated that the SEID criteria identified 88% of participants in the samples analyzed, which is comparable to the 92% that met the Fukuda criteria. The SEID case definition was compared to a four item empiric criteria, and findings indicated that the four item empiric criteria identified a smaller, more functionally limited and symptomatic group of patients.

Conclusion: The recently developed SEID criteria appears to identify a group comparable in size to the Fukuda et al. criteria, but a larger group of patients than the Canadian ME/CFS and ME criteria, and selects more patients who have less impairment and fewer symptoms than a four item empiric criteria.

Keywords: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis; Systemic Exertion Intolerance Disease; case definitions; chronic fatigue syndrome.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Brurberg KG, Fønhus MS, Larun L, Flottorp S, Malterud K. CFS/ME: a systematic review syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis. BMJ Open. 2014;4:e003973. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fukuda K, Straus SE, Hickie I, Sharpe MC, Dobbins JG, Komaroff A. The chronic fatigue syndrome: A comprehensive approach to its definition and study. Ann Intern Med. 1994;121:953–959. - PubMed
    1. Reyes M, Gary HE, Jr, Dobbins JG, Randall B, Steele L, Fukuda K, et al. Descriptive epidemiology of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: CDC surveillance in four cities. Morbid Mortal Week Report Surveil Sum. 1997 Feb 21;46(SS-2):1–13. - PubMed
    1. Reyes M, Nisenbaum R, Hoaglin DC, Unger ER, Emmons C, Randall B, Stewart JA, Abbey S, Jones JF, Gantz J, Minden S, Reeves WC. Prevalence and incidence of chronic fatigue syndrome in Wichita, Kansas. Arc Intern Med. 2003;163:1530–1536. - PubMed
    1. Jason LA, Richman JA, Rademaker AW, Jordan KM, Plioplys AV, Taylor RR, McCready W, Huang C, Plioplys S. A community-based study of chronic fatigue syndrome. Arc Intern Med. 1999;159:2129–2137. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources