Table 1.

Baseline characteristics of chronic fatigue syndrome patients (CFS/ME) and healthy controls (HC)

	CFS/ME (n = 50)	HC (n = 48)	P value
Age, years	31 (10)	31 (10)	0.98
Ethnicity Caucasian (%) Other (%)	49 (98) 1 (2)	47 (98) 1 (2)	0.37
Body mass index, kg/m2	25.1 (4.5)	24.9 (4.4)	0.88
Oral contraceptives (%) Paracetamol (%)	22 (44) 22 (44)	16 (33) 8 (16)	0.28 0.002
Illness duration, months ≤ 3 years (%) > 3 years (%)	43 [7–109] 29 (58) 21 (42)	N/A
Fatigue severity (CIS-fatigue)	52 (4)	20 (11)	< 0.001
Psychological distress (SCL-90)	150 (30)	119 (32)	< 0.001

Data are number (%), mean (SD), or median [range]

CIS checklist individual strength, SCL-90 symptom checklist 90, N/A not applicable