title: Prognosis of chronic fatigue in a community-based sample.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examined predictors of fatigue severity and predictors of continued chronic fatigue status at wave 2 follow-up within a random, community-based sample of individuals previously evaluated in a wave 1 prevalence study of chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome that originally took place between 1995 and 1997.
  
  
  METHODS
  Wave 1 data were from a larger community-based prevalence study of chronic fatigue syndrome. In the present study, a second wave of data were collected by randomly selecting a sample of participants from the wave 1 sample of 18,675 adults and readministering a telephone screening questionnaire designed to assess symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings revealed that wave 1 fatigue severity was a predictor of fatigue severity at wave 2 in the overall sample of individuals with and without chronic fatigue. In the smaller sample of individuals with chronic fatigue, wave 1 fatigue severity, worsening of fatigue with physical exertion, and feeling worse for 24 hours or more after exercise significantly predicted continued chronic fatigue status (vs. improvement) at wave 2 follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings underscore the prognostic validity of postexertional malaise in predicting long-term chronic fatigue and also highlight the importance of using population-based, representative random samples when attempting to identify long-term predictors of chronic fatigue at follow-up.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, DePaul University, 2219 North Kenmore Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614, USA.
authors.forename: Renee R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Leonard A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Jason
authors.forename: Carrie J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Curie
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002641:Chicago; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012494:Sampling Studies