Table 2.
Fatigue prevalence by type and medical cause.
| Group | General | Chronic | CFS/CFS-like | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participants n. (data n.) | 461,236 (76) | 162,388 (39) | 96,403 (13) | 623,624 (115) |
| (mean ± SD) | 6,069 ± 12,802 | 4,162 ± 6,045 | 7,416 ± 9,244 | 5,423 ± 10,992 |
| Prevalence % [95% CI] | 24.2 [19.9–29.5] | 7.7 [5.7–10.3] | 1.2 [0.6–2.5] | 16.4 [13.6–19.9] |
| Group | Adults (≥18 years) | Minors (<18 years) | Specific Occupation | Total |
| Participants n. (data n.) | 180,938 (9) | 17,172 (2) | 2,445 (2) | 200,555 (13) |
| (mean ± SD) | 20,104 ± 22,592 | 8,586 ± 0 | 1,223 ± 356 | 15,427 ± 19,953 |
| Unexplained fatigue | 7.6 [4.2–13.7] | 0.5 [0.4–0.7] | 2.0 [0.3–13.4] | 4.1 [2.0–8.5] |
| Explained fatiguea | 2.3 [0.6–8.6] | 0.1 [0.0–0.9] | 2.4 [0.2–31.4] | 1.5 [0.5–4.6] |
| Physical causeb | 40.0 [28.6–56.0] (3) | N/A | 46.2 [20.7–100.0] (1) | 40.6 [30.2–54.5] (4) |
| Mental cause | 8.6 [6.7–11.1] (1) | N/A | N/A | 8.6 [6.7–11.1] (1) |
| Mixed cause | 28.4 [11.0–73.5] (4) | 16.3 [3.4–78.3] (2) | 62.9 [52.8–74.8] (1) | 28.1 [14.3–55.3] (7) |
| Drug-induced | 1.0 [0.5–2.1] (1) | N/A | N/A | 1.0 [0.5–2.1] (1) |
aPrevalence data from studies with information on the presence or absence of medical causes for reported fatigue were included, analyzed and divided into explained and unexplained fatigue.
bProportion (%) of participants reporting causes of fatigue compared to total fatigue was estimated from independent data. Mixed cause included data having no description for physical and/or mental causes separately. The (number) indicates the number of data for each results.