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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Jan 1.
Published in final edited form as: Psychosomatics. 2011 Sep 22;53(1):44–50. doi: 10.1016/j.psym.2011.04.001

Table 1.

Adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals describing associations between comorbid conditions and CFS-like illness.

Comorbid Conditions CFS-like illness present (n=123, 3%) n (%) CFS-like illness absent (n=4467, 97%) n (%) OR1(95% CI) Adjusted for age and sex OR2(95% CI) Adjusted for age, sex, other comorbidities
Lifetime history of CWP
 Yes 50 (41) 314 (7) 9.1 (6.3–12.5) 6.7 (4.2–10.0)
 No 73 (59) 4140 (93) 1.0 1.0
Lifetime history of IBS
 Yes 20 (16) 220 (5) 3.3 (2.0–5.6) 1.7 (1.0–3.1)
 No 103 (84) 4204 (95) 1.0 1.0
Lifetime history of MD
 Yes 69 (57) 797 (18) 5.3 (3.7–7.7) 4.4 (2.9–6.6)
 No 53 (43) 3638 (82) 1.0 1.0
Any comorbidity3
 Yes 102 (83) 1131 (26) 14.3 (8.1–21.3) -4
 No 21 (17) 3279 (74) 1.0

Abbreviations: CI = confidence interval; CFS = chronic fatigue syndrome; CWP = chronic widespread pain; IBS = irritable bowel syndrome; MD = major depression; OR = odds ratio

1

ORs describe the association between each comorbid condition and chronic fatigue-like illness, adjusted for age and sex, and after taking into account relatedness of twin pairs.

2

ORs describe associations between each comorbid condition and chronic fatigue-like illness, adjusted for age, sex, and the remaining 2 comorbid conditions.

3

“Any comorbidity” describes participants who reported that they experienced CWP, IBS, or MD in their lifetime.

4

A fully-adjusted OR is not presented, as each comorbid condition is already represented in the definition of the “Any comorbidity” variable.