Table 1.
Demographics, Psychiatric Characteristics, and Onset Issues
| DePaul Sample | Newcastle Sample | |||||
| CFS | ME | CFS | ME | |||
| M (SD) | M (SD) | M (SD) | M (SD) | |||
| Age | 52.5 (11.5) | 49.6 (10.7) | 45.3 (13.5) | 48.4 (14.2) | ||
| Other Demographic Information: | N (%) | N (%) | Sig. | N (%) | N (%) | Sig. |
| Gender | ||||||
| Male | 19 (15) | 11 (20) | 11 (17) | 5 (29) | ||
| Female | 106 (85) | 45 (80) | 55 (83) | 12 (71) | ||
| Race | ||||||
| Caucasian | 122 (97) | 55 (100) | 65 (98) | 17 (100) | ||
| Asian / Pacific Islander | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | ||
| Other | 3 (2) | 0 (0) | 1 (2) | 0 (0) | ||
| Marital status | ||||||
| Married / Living with partner | 74 (60) | 28 (51) | 33 (50) | 11 (65) | ||
| Separated | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | 2 (3) | 0 (0) | ||
| Divorced | 19 (15) | 13 (24) | 10 (15) | 2 (12) | ||
| Never married | 29 (24) | 14 (25) | 21 (32) | 4 (24) | ||
| Work status | ||||||
| On disability | 61 (48) | 40 (73) | 23 (35) | 6 (35) | ||
| Student | 6 (5) | 0 (0) | 3 (5) | 1 (6) | ||
| Homemaker | 7 (6) | 2 (4) | 1 (2) | 0 (0) | ||
| Retired | 19 (15) | 3 (5) | 11 (17) | 3 (18) | ||
| Unemployed | 16 (13) | 6 (11) | 2 (3) | 3 (18) | ||
| Working part-time | 11 (9) | 3 (5) | 15 (23) | 2 (12) | ||
| Working full-time | 6 (5) | 1 (2) | 10 (15) | 2 (12) | ||
| Educational level | ||||||
| Less than high school | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 2 (3) | 0 (0) | * | |
| Some high school | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 6 (10) | 1 (7) | ||
| High school | 8 (6) | 5 (9) | 7 (11) | 5 (33) | ||
| Partial college | 21 (17) | 11 (20) | 15 (24) | 2 (13) | ||
| Standard college degree | 44 (35) | 20 (36) | 17 (27) | 7 (47) | ||
| Graduate / Professional degree | 53 (42) | 19 (35) | 16 (25) | 0 (0) | ||
| DePaul Sample | Newcastle Sample | |||||
| CFS | ME | Sig. | CFS | ME | Sig. | |
| Psychiatric and Onset Issues: | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | ||
| Lifetime psychiatric diagnosis | ||||||
| Yes | 54 (43) | 23 (41) | 28 (42) | 6 (35) | ||
| No | 72 (57) | 33 (59) | 38 (58) | 11 (65) | ||
| Time period of illness onset | ||||||
| Within 24 hours | 13 (10) | 34 (62) | *** | 0 (0) | 6 (43) | *** |
| Over 1 week | 7 (6) | 21 (38) | 1 (2) | 8 (57) | ||
| Over 1 month | 23 (18) | 0 (0) | 3 (5) | 0 (0) | ||
| Over 2–6 months | 29 (23) | 0 (0) | 19 (30) | 0 (0) | ||
| Over 7–12 months | 10 (8) | 0 (0) | 10 (16) | 0 (0) | ||
| Over 1–2 years | 19 (15) | 0 (0) | 11 (17) | 0 (0) | ||
| Over 3 or more years | 25 (20) | 0 (0) | 20 (31) | 0 (0) | ||
| Cause of fatigue: | ||||||
| Definitely physical | 95 (77) | 47 (85) | 32 (55) | 11 (69) | ||
| Mainly physical | 22 (18) | 7 (13) | 14 (24) | 2 (13) | ||
| Equally physical and psychological | 7 (6) | 1 (2) | 11 (19) | 3 (19) | ||
| Mainly psychological | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (2) | 0 (0) | ||
| Definitely psychological | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | ||