Skip to main content
PMC home page
Archives of Disease in Childhood logoLink to Archives of Disease in Childhood
. 2003 Oct;88(10):894–898. doi: 10.1136/adc.88.10.894

Chronic fatigue syndrome in children: a cross sectional survey

M Patel 1, D Smith 1, T Chalder 1, S Wessely 1
PMCID: PMC1719321  PMID: 14500310

Abstract

Methods: Cross sectional survey of 36 children attending a GP specialist interest clinic in southeast England.

Results: Patient sociodemographics and clinical morbidity were largely comparable to the literature from tertiary referral research centres. Some prognostic indicators for adults did not readily transfer to this younger age group, although several children had a positive family psychiatric history. Receiving treatment was associated with increased school attendance, but one third of subjects obtained no qualifications. Return to normal health or significant overall improvement was reported by 29/36 subjects.

Conclusions: The outcomes in this setting are favourable and comparable to those seen in a controlled setting; this study supports the concept that the prognosis for CFS in children and adolescents is generally good. However, the impact of the illness is significant and this is perhaps most evident in terms of education. Current methods of reporting educational outcomes in the literature are varied and merit development of standardised tools.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (91.9 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bell D. S., Jordan K., Robinson M. Thirteen-year follow-up of children and adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome. Pediatrics. 2001 May;107(5):994–998. doi: 10.1542/peds.107.5.994. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Carter B. D., Edwards J. F., Kronenberger W. G., Michalczyk L., Marshall G. S. Case control study of chronic fatigue in pediatric patients. Pediatrics. 1995 Feb;95(2):179–186. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chalder T., Berelowitz G., Pawlikowska T., Watts L., Wessely S., Wright D., Wallace E. P. Development of a fatigue scale. J Psychosom Res. 1993;37(2):147–153. doi: 10.1016/0022-3999(93)90081-p. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chalder T., Tong J., Deary V. Family cognitive behaviour therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome: an uncontrolled study. Arch Dis Child. 2002 Feb;86(2):95–97. doi: 10.1136/adc.86.2.95. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Deale A., Chalder T., Marks I., Wessely S. Cognitive behavior therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Psychiatry. 1997 Mar;154(3):408–414. doi: 10.1176/ajp.154.3.408. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Emslie G. J., Rush A. J., Weinberg W. A., Kowatch R. A., Hughes C. W., Carmody T., Rintelmann J. A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of fluoxetine in children and adolescents with depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1997 Nov;54(11):1031–1037. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1997.01830230069010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Euba R., Chalder T., Deale A., Wessely S. A comparison of the characteristics of chronic fatigue syndrome in primary and tertiary care. Br J Psychiatry. 1996 Jan;168(1):121–126. doi: 10.1192/bjp.168.1.121. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Feder H. M., Jr, Dworkin P. H., Orkin C. Outcome of 48 pediatric patients with chronic fatigue. A clinical experience. Arch Fam Med. 1994 Dec;3(12):1049–1055. doi: 10.1001/archfami.3.12.1049. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Garralda E., Rangel L., Levin M., Roberts H., Ukoumunne O. Psychiatric adjustment in adolescents with a history of chronic fatigue syndrome. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1999 Dec;38(12):1515–1521. doi: 10.1097/00004583-199912000-00012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Garralda M. E., Rangel L. Childhood chronic fatigue syndrome. Am J Psychiatry. 2001 Jul;158(7):1161–1161. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.158.7.1161. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Joyce J., Hotopf M., Wessely S. The prognosis of chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome: a systematic review. QJM. 1997 Mar;90(3):223–233. doi: 10.1093/qjmed/90.3.223. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Krilov L. R., Fisher M., Friedman S. B., Reitman D., Mandel F. S. Course and outcome of chronic fatigue in children and adolescents. Pediatrics. 1998 Aug;102(2 Pt 1):360–366. doi: 10.1542/peds.102.2.360. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Llewelyn S. P., Hume W. I. The patient's view of therapy. Br J Med Psychol. 1979 Mar;52(1):29–35. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8341.1979.tb02490.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Lloyd A. R., Hickie I., Boughton C. R., Spencer O., Wakefield D. Prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome in an Australian population. Med J Aust. 1990 Nov 5;153(9):522–528. doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1990.tb126191.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Marks I. M., Mathews A. M. Brief standard self-rating for phobic patients. Behav Res Ther. 1979;17(3):263–267. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(79)90041-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Marshall G. S., Gesser R. M., Yamanishi K., Starr S. E. Chronic fatigue in children: clinical features, Epstein-Barr virus and human herpesvirus 6 serology and long term follow-up. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 1991 Apr;10(4):287–290. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Mouterde O. Myalgic encephalomyelitis in children. Lancet. 2001 Feb 17;357(9255):562–562. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(05)71716-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Rangel L., Garralda M. E., Levin M., Roberts H. The course of severe chronic fatigue syndrome in childhood. J R Soc Med. 2000 Mar;93(3):129–134. doi: 10.1177/014107680009300306. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Rowe K. S. Double-blind randomized controlled trial to assess the efficacy of intravenous gammaglobulin for the management of chronic fatigue syndrome in adolescents. J Psychiatr Res. 1997 Jan-Feb;31(1):133–147. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3956(96)00047-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Sharpe M. C., Archard L. C., Banatvala J. E., Borysiewicz L. K., Clare A. W., David A., Edwards R. H., Hawton K. E., Lambert H. P., Lane R. J. A report--chronic fatigue syndrome: guidelines for research. J R Soc Med. 1991 Feb;84(2):118–121. doi: 10.1177/014107689108400224. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Smith M. S., Mitchell J., Corey L., Gold D., McCauley E. A., Glover D., Tenover F. C. Chronic fatigue in adolescents. Pediatrics. 1991 Aug;88(2):195–202. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Speight N., Franklin A. Does myalgic encephalomyelitis exist? Lancet. 2001 Jun 9;357(9271):1890–1890. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(00)05004-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Straus Stephen E. Caring for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. Conclusions in CMO's report are shaped by anecdote not evidence. BMJ. 2002 Jan 19;324(7330):124–125. doi: 10.1136/bmj.324.7330.124. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Vereker M. I. Chronic fatigue syndrome: a joint paediatric-psychiatric approach. Arch Dis Child. 1992 Apr;67(4):550–555. doi: 10.1136/adc.67.4.550. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Walford G. A., Nelson W. M., McCluskey D. R. Fatigue, depression, and social adjustment in chronic fatigue syndrome. Arch Dis Child. 1993 Mar;68(3):384–388. doi: 10.1136/adc.68.3.384. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Whiting P., Bagnall A. M., Sowden A. J., Cornell J. E., Mulrow C. D., Ramírez G. Interventions for the treatment and management of chronic fatigue syndrome: a systematic review. JAMA. 2001 Sep 19;286(11):1360–1368. doi: 10.1001/jama.286.11.1360. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Wittenborn J. R., Buhler R. Somatic discomforts among depressed women. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1979 Apr;36(4):465–471. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1979.01780040107012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Zigmond A. S., Snaith R. P. The hospital anxiety and depression scale. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1983 Jun;67(6):361–370. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1983.tb09716.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. de Jong L. W., Prins J. B., Fiselier T. J., Weemaes C. M., Meijer-van den Bergh E. M., Bleijenberg G. Het chronische-vermoeidheidsyndroom bij jongeren. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 1997 Aug 2;141(31):1513–1516. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. van Houdenhove B. Does myalgic encephalomyelitis exist? Lancet. 2001 Jun 9;357(9271):1889–1889. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(00)05002-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Archives of Disease in Childhood are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES