title: Prevalence of chronic disabling fatigue in children and adolescents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The epidemiology of chronic fatiguing illnesses in young people is poorly understood.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the lifetime prevalence of different definitions of chronic fatigue in 8- to 17-year-olds.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants came from two population-based twin series. Parents completed self-report questionnaires that inquired whether either child had ever experienced more than a few days of disabling fatigue. Telephone interviews were undertaken for individuals who had experienced such an episode.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Questionnaires were returned by 1468 families (65% response rate) and telephone interviews were undertaken regarding 99 of the 129 subjects (77%) who had experienced fatigue. The lifetime prevalence estimates ranged from 2.34% (95% CI 1.75-2.94) for disabling fatigue lasting 3 months to 1.29% (95% CI 0.87-1.71) for a disorder resembling adult operationally defined chronic fatigue syndrome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  From the age of 11 years, young people have similar rates and types of chronic fatiguing illnesses to adults.
authors.affiliation: MRC Social, Genetic, Developmental Psychiatric Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK. spjuaef@iop.kcl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farmer
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fowler
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Scourfield
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thapar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology; D004200:Diseases in Twins / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004493:Education; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005221:Fatigue / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014852:Wales / Q000453:epidemiology