title: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis: Toward An Empirical Case Definition.
abstract: Current case definitions of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) have been based on consensus methods, but empirical methods could be used to identify core symptoms and thereby improve the reliability. In the present study, several methods (i.e., continuous scores of symptoms, theoretically and empirically derived cut off scores of symptoms) were used to identify core symptoms best differentiating patients from controls. In addition, data mining with decision trees was conducted. Our study found a small number of core symptoms that have good sensitivity and specificity, and these included fatigue, post-exertional malaise, a neurocognitive symptom, and unrefreshing sleep. Outcomes from these analyses suggest that using empirically selected symptoms can help guide the creation of a more reliable case definition.
authors.affiliation: DePaul University.
authors.forename: Leonard A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Jason
authors.affiliation: DePaul University.
authors.forename: Bobby
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kot
authors.affiliation: DePaul University.
authors.forename: Madison
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sunnquist
authors.affiliation: DePaul University.
authors.forename: Abigail
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: DePaul University.
authors.forename: Meredyth
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: DePaul University.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jantke
authors.affiliation: DePaul University.
authors.forename: Yolonda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: DePaul University.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Furst
authors.affiliation: Solve ME/CFS Initiative.
authors.forename: Suzanne D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Vernon
keywords: Myalgic Encephalomyelitits; biomarkers; case definitions; chronic fatigue syndrome