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. 2021 Jan 20;9(2):106.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare9020106.

Homebound versus Bedridden Status among Those with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Karl Conroy  1 , Shaun Bhatia  1 , Mohammed Islam  1 , Leonard A Jason  1
Affiliations

Homebound versus Bedridden Status among Those with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Karl Conroy et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Persons living with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) vary widely in terms of the severity of their illness. It is estimated that of those living with ME/CFS in the United States, about 385,000 are homebound. There is a need to know more about different degrees of being homebound within this severely affected group. The current study examined an international sample of 2138 study participants with ME/CFS, of whom 549 were severely affected (operationalized as 'Homebound'). A subsample of 89 very severely affected participants (operationalized as 'Homebound-bedridden') was also examined. The findings showed a significant association between severely and very severely affected participants within the post-exertional malaise (PEM) symptom domain. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords: ME/CFS; bedridden; chronic fatigue syndrome; homebound; illness severity; myalgic encephalomyelitis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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