Symptom patterns in long-duration chronic fatigue syndrome.
OBJECTIVE
Our objective was to evaluate symptom patterns in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) who were ill for 10 or more years.


METHODS
This cross-sectional self-report study compared patient groups with long-duration (median = 18 years; n = 258) and short-duration (median = 3 years; n = 28) CFS to a group of healthy significant others (n = 79) on symptomatic, neurocognitive, and psychological variables. Data were gathered from a 574-item postal questionnaire.


RESULTS
A principal-components analysis of CFS symptom data yielded a three-factor solution: cognitive problems; flu-like symptoms; and neurologic symptoms. Compared with the short-duration CFS group, the long-duration group had significantly higher CFS symptom severity scores (p < 0.04), largely attributable to increased cognitive difficulties. A subgroup comparison of subjects ill for < 3 years versus those ill 4-7 years suggested that denial coping strategies were more likely in those participants with the shorter illness duration. Significant differences between both CFS groups and healthy controls were found in a number of comorbid disorders. Participants with CFS most often endorsed immune/viral abnormalities and persistent stress as important perceived causes of their illness.


CONCLUSIONS
Participants with long-duration CFS reported a large number of specific cognitive difficulties that were greater in severity than those reported by participants with short-duration CFS. The pattern of comorbid disorders in the CFS groups was consistent with hypersensitivity and viral reactivation hypotheses.
Friedberg
F
F
Department of Mathematics, Fitchburg State College, MA, USA.
Dechene
L
L
McKenzie
M J
MJ
Fontanetta
R
R
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003071:Cognition; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003717:Denial, Psychological; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors