Chronic fatigue syndrome: a clinical and laboratory study with a well matched control group.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relation between severity of complaints, laboratory data and psychological parameters in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).


METHODS
Eighty-eight patients with CFS and 77 healthy controls matched for age, sex and geographical area.


METHODS
Patients and controls visited our outpatient clinic for a detailed medical history, physical examination and psychological tests: Checklist Individual Strength (CIS). Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Sickness Impact Profile (SIP). Venous blood was drawn for a complete blood cell count, serum chemistry panel, C-reactive protein and serological tests on a panel of infectious agents.


RESULTS
All patients fulfilled the criteria for CFS as described by Sharpe et al. (J R Soc Med 1991; 84: 118-21), only 18 patients (20.5%) fulfilled the CDC criteria. The outcome of serum chemistry tests and haematological tests were within the normal range. No significant differences were found in the outcome of serological tests. Compared to controls, significant differences were found in the results on the CIS, the BDI, and the SIP. These results varied with the number of complaints (CDC criteria). When the number of complaints was included as the covariate in the analysis, there were no significant differences on fatigue severity, depression, and functional impairment between patients who fulfilled the CDC criteria and patients who did not.


CONCLUSIONS
It is concluded that the psychological parameters of fatigue severity, depression and functional impairment are related to the clinical severity of the illness. Because the extensive panel of laboratory tests applied in this study did not discriminate between patients and controls, it was not possible to investigate a possible relation between the outcomes of psychological and laboratory testing.
Swanink
C M
CM
Department of Medical Microbiology, University Hospital, Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Vercoulen
J H
JH
Bleijenberg
G
G
Fennis
J F
JF
Galama
J M
JM
van der Meer
J W
JW
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000097:blood* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000821:virology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010808:Physical Examination; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires