Table 3.
Symptoms (Higher score indicates more impairment)
| DePaul Sample | Newcastle Sample | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CFS | ME | Sig. | CFS | ME | Sig. | |
| M (SD) | M (SD) | M (SD) | M (SD) | |||
| Fatigue | 78.3 (16.6) | 81.9 (14.3) | 77.9 (14.8) | 83.1 (14.6) | ||
| Post-exertional malaise | ||||||
| Dead, heavy feeling after starting to exercise | 66.4 (28.4) | 72.0 (30.4) | 70.2 (25.0) | 72.7 (27.8) | ||
| Next-day soreness after non-strenuous activities | 71.7 (20.6) | 80.6 (19.4) | ** | 70.5 (25.4) | 77.2 (17.8) | |
| Mentally tired after slightest effort | 60.7 (26.0) | 68.3 (21.3) | 66.8 (25.6) | 69.1 (24.3) | ||
| Minimum exercise makes you tired | 72.3 (24.8) | 83.6 (17.6) | ** | 69.4 (23.4) | 77.9 (23.2) | |
| Physically drained / sick after mild activity | 68.8 (25.1) | 78.9 (19.8) | ** | 65.0 (27.5) | 69.1 (25.4) | |
| Sleep | ||||||
| Unrefreshing sleep | 77.9 (20.8) | 79.9 (22.4) | 83.1 (16.5) | 83.8 (17.5) | ||
| Need to nap during each day | 52.1 (31.1) | 49.5 (29.5) | 47.9 (32.6) | 63.2 (34.4) | ||
| Problems falling asleep | 57.8 (33.1) | 63.7 (28.4) | 53.5 (32.4) | 48.5 (34.5) | ||
| Problems staying asleep | 63.3 (29.3) | 58.6 (32.7) | 49.2 (30.7) | 53.1 (36.9) | ||
| Waking up early in the morning | 50.3 (32.1) | 44.9 (34.7) | 42.7 (29.3) | 55.1 (39.3) | ||
| Sleeping all day / staying awake all night | 14.6 (25.5) | 21.3 (30.5) | 17.2 (25.7) | 19.9 (23.0) | ||
| Pain | ||||||
| Muscle pain | 58.8 (27.5) | 67.7 (23.0) | 71.4 (22.8) | 81.6 (20.8) | ||
| Pain in multiple joints | 50.4 (33.5) | 51.8 (33.0) | 65.4 (28.5) | 76.5 (25.7) | ||
| Eye pain | 32.7 (28.2) | 33.0 (29.6) | 39.2 (28.2) | 44.1 (25.4) | ||
| Chest pain | 23.7 (24.4) | 30.7 (25.2) | 28.7 (25.6) | 26.5 (25.3) | ||
| Bloating | 44.7 (30.0) | 45.0 (24.5) | 41.0 (32.2) | 51.5 (29.9) | ||
| Abdomen / stomach pain | 38.5 (26.5) | 36.8 (24.3) | 37.7 (32.2) | 55.1 (28.0) | * | |
| Headaches | 47.1 (24.9) | 53.4 (25.7) | 59.6 (24.1) | 63.2 (27.4) | ||
| Neurocognitive | ||||||
| Muscle twitches | 33.8 (25.9) | 26.0 (24.6) | 37.5 (30.5) | 42.6 (32.8) | ||
| Muscle weakness | 60.0 (27.0) | 64.7 (28.3) | 64.4 (25.2) | 76.5 (23.8) | ||
| Sensitivity to noise | 59.8 (28.9) | 65.2 (26.1) | 52.7 (33.7) | 61.8 (27.1) | ||
| Sensitivity to bright lights | 54.3 (29.5) | 63.5 (28.0) | 50.4 (30.1) | 61.0 (28.6) | ||
| Problems remembering things | 66.4 (21.2) | 64.7 (23.8) | 69.0 (23.1) | 75.7 (19.0) | ||
| Difficulty paying attention for long periods of time | 71.1 (27.1) | 75.0 (20.3) | 73.0 (21.6) | 82.4 (18.3) | ||
| Difficulty expressing thoughts | 62.8 (23.7) | 59.6 (24.4) | 61.0 (26.4) | 70.6 (19.7) | ||
| Difficulty understanding things | 45.7 (24.8) | 50.0 (19.7) | 54.2 (27.3) | 60.2 (28.9) | ||
| Can only focus on one thing at a time | 66.7 (29.7) | 73.3 (22.2) | 64.6 (25.8) | 72.8 (24.3) | ||
| Unable to focus vision / attention | 47.2 (26.9) | 53.9 (21.0) | 50.8 (27.2) | 53.7 (22.4) | ||
| Loss of depth perception | 25.1 (30.7) | 25.2 (32.8) | 27.0 (31.2) | 39.2 (38.6) | ||
| Slowness of thought | 57.8 (24.4) | 59.8 (23.1) | 57.8 (26.3) | 61.8 (21.9) | ||
| Absent-mindedness | 60.1 (25.8) | 59.3 (28.9) | 60.0 (28.1) | 73.5 (20.7) | ||
| Autonomic | ||||||
| Bladder problems | 29.4 (33.3) | 31.8 (31.0) | 26.6 (31.0) | 42.6 (34.8) | ||
| Irritable bowel problems | 44.1 (32.4) | 48.8 (28.8) | 46.5 (33.5) | 64.1 (35.9) | ||
| Nausea | 31.3 (24.5) | 33.7 (23.1) | 33.7 (25.5) | 52.9 (22.8) | ** | |
| Feeling unsteady on feet | 39.5 (25.3) | 46.5 (28.9) | 45.4 (28.1) | 52.9 (29.8) | ||
| Shortness of breath | 36.6 (27.5) | 43.4 (23.3) | 34.9 (25.8) | 39.0 (33.3) | ||
| Dizziness / fainting | 35.9 (24.6) | 44.3 (26.1) | 46.6 (28.9) | 39.0 (30.9) | ||
| Irregular heart beats | 30.5 (27.1) | 32.5 (27.6) | 33.7 (31.8) | 37.5 (32.2) | ||
| Neuroendocrine | ||||||
| Losing / gaining weight without trying | 38.9 (34.6) | 37.0 (34.4) | 45.9 (34.5) | 48.5 (38.0) | ||
| No appetite | 22.5 (24.5) | 22.1 (21.3) | 24.6 (29.3) | 43.4 (31.6) | * | |
| Sweating hands | 13.4 (23.0) | 6.6 (13.5) | 21.9 (29.9) | 19.5 (27.0) | ||
| Night sweats | 35.3 (31.4) | 31.4 (29.8) | 34.1 (30.2) | 39.0 (30.6) | ||
| Cold limbs | 53.0 (30.5) | 49.5 (30.9) | 49.8 (33.9) | 59.6 (31.4) | ||
| Chills / shivers | 34.9 (29.0) | 36.5 (25.8) | 36.5 (30.2) | 36.8 (31.7) | ||
| Feeling hot / cold for no reason | 50.4 (29.2) | 52.9 (27.9) | 56.1 (28.7) | 51.5 (29.6) | ||
| Feeling like you have a high temperature | 28.7 (28.2) | 38.0 (32.8) | 39.7 (32.4) | 45.6 (31.9) | ||
| Feeling like you have a low temperature | 25.7 (29.6) | 34.1 (28.5) | 22.0 (29.3) | 33.1 (32.2) | ||
| Alcohol intolerance | 46.3 (39.6) | 53.9 (39.6) | 45.0 (36.0) | 55.0 (40.0) | ||
| Immune | ||||||
| Sore throat | 36.0 (23.3) | 34.6 (24.8) | 41.8 (29.1) | 43.4 (30.7) | ||
| Tender lymph nodes | 38.6 (28.2) | 49.0 (29.5) | 39.1 (30.0) | 36.8 (30.4) | ||
| Fever | 13.6 (19.4) | 17.5 (22.0) | 21.0 (26.5) | 25.8 (24.4) | ||
| Flu-like symptoms | 49.9 (26.4) | 59.1 (26.3) | 54.6 (27.8) | 54.4 (27.6) | ||
| Sensitivity to smells/foods/medications/chemicals | 52.8 (36.1) | 58.4 (35.5) | 43.1 (36.6) | 53.7 (38.7) | ||
**
p < 0.01;
*
p < 0.05