Figure 3.

Proposed Framework for Personalized Severity Assessment in ME/CFS to Capture Variation in ME/CFS Severity and Life Impairment across Patients and Time. (A) Illustrates the dynamic range of the ME/CFS severity scale based on the disease’s impact on all aspects of the patient’s life, including occupational, educational, social, and personal spheres. (B) Depicts the impact of mild to severe ME/CFS on the patient’s life. Mild: maintained about 80% of pre-ME/CFS functional capacity, as well as full-time employment with limitations due to post-exertional malaise (PEM). Moderate: pre-ME/CFS functional capacity, unable to hold part-time work, with increased limitations in activity, progressing to severe: inability to hold any job, primarily house and bedbound. (C) Shows the patient’s functioning ability significantly degrading from extremely severe A to D, highlighting ME/CFS’s profound impact at this level. Severe nutritional deficiencies led to Gastrostomy tube (G-tube) and Peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC Line) Line use. Sensory intolerance intensified, making it impossible for the patient to tolerate others in his room. At stage D, communication loss and internet access loss intensified social isolation.