Table 1.

Rates per patient year (95% CI) and rate ratios (95% CI) of GP consultations, tests, prescriptions and referrals from 15 years before until 10 years after a first recorded diagnosis of CFS/ME in adult cases compared with controls

	Year −15 to −11	Year −10 to −6	Year −5 to −1	Year 0	Year 1 to 5	Year 6 to 10
Total person years
Cases	4579	12,183	24,478	6710	25,447	10,815
Controls	4649	12,258	24,564	6710	25,038	10, 508
GP consultations
Cases (rate)	6.42 (6.35, 6.49)	6.77 (6.72, 6.81)	8.06 (8.02, 8.09)	10.6 (10.6, 10.7)	7.11 (7.08, 7.14)	6.59 (6.54, 6.64)
Controls (rate)	4.31 (4.25, 4.37)	4.53 (4.49, 4.56)	4.58 (4.56, 4.61)	4.29 (4.24, 4.34)	4.10 (4.07, 4.12)	4.24 (4.20, 4.28)
Rate ratio	1.49 (1.46, 1.52)	1.50 (1.48, 1.51)	1.76 (1.75, 1.77)	2.48 (2.44, 2.51)	1.73 (1.72, 1.75)	1.56 (1.54, 1.57)
Diagnostic tests
Cases (rate)	2.50 (2.46, 2.55)	8.01 (7.96, 8.06)	20.4 (20.3, 20.4)	37.0 (36.9, 37.2)	23.1 (23.0, 23.1)	26.4 (26.3, 26.5)
Controls (rate)	1.53 (1.49, 1.57)	4.98 (4.94, 5.02)	9.75 (9.71, 9.79)	12.3 (12.2, 12.3)	14.2 (14.1, 14.2)	17.6 (17.5, 17.7)
Rate ratio	1.64 (1.59, 1.68)	1.61 (1.59, 1.62)	2.09 (2.08, 2.10)	3.02 (3.00, 3.05)	1.63 (1.62, 1.64)	1.50 (1.49, 1.51)
Prescriptions
Cases (rate)	6.83 (6.76, 6.91)	6.26 (6.21, 6.30)	6.63 (6.60, 6.67)	7.84 (7.78, 7.91)	6.48 (6.45, 6.51)	6.63 (6.58, 6.68)
Controls (rate)	4.39 (4.33, 4.45)	3.84 (3.81, 3.88)	3.47 (3.45, 3.50)	3.34 (3.29, 3.38)	3.31 (3.29, 3.33)	3.59 (3.56, 3.63)
Rate ratio	1.56 (1.53, 1.58)	1.63 (1.61, 1.65)	1.91 (1.89, 1.93)	2.35 (2.31, 2.39)	1.96 (1.94, 1.98)	1.85 (1.82, 1.87)
Referrals
Cases (rate)	0.99 (0.96, 1.02)	0.86 (0.84, 0.87)	0.86 (0.85, 0.87)	1.38 (1.35, 1.41)	0.76 (0.75, 0.77)	0.71 (0.70, 0.73)
Controls (rate)	0.65 (0.63, 0.67)	0.55 (0.54, 0.57)	0.43 (0.42, 0.43)	0.39 (0.37, 0.40)	0.38 (0.37, 0.39)	0.40 (0.39, 0.41)
Rate ratio	1.53 (1.46, 1.60)	1.55 (1.50, 1.60)	2.02 (1.98, 2.07)	3.54 (3.39, 3.70)	2.00 (1.95, 2.05)	1.78 (1.72, 1.85)