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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 May 8.
Published in final edited form as: Paediatr Child Health (Oxford). 2017 Sep;27(9):432–434. doi: 10.1016/j.paed.2017.05.007

Table 1.

Diagnostic checklist for CFS/ME in children based on NICE guidance (2007)

Fatigue:

  • Debilitating persistent or relapsing fatigue for at least 3 months, but not life-long.

  • Not the result of ongoing exertion and not substantially alleviated by rest.

  • Post-exertional malaise and/or fatigue, typically delayed (e.g. by at least 24 hours) with slow recovery over several days.

  • No clinical evidence of other causes of fatigue.

  • Severe enough to cause substantial reduction in previous levels of occupational, educational, social or personal activities.

And at least ONE of the following symptoms persisted/recurred during 3 or more consecutive months and did not predate the fatigue:

  • Sleep disturbance including unrefreshing sleep

  • Muscle pain

  • Joint pain

  • Headaches

  • Painful lymph nodes without pathological enlargement

  • Sore throat

  • Cognitive dysfunction

  • General malaise or ‘flu-like’ symptoms

  • Dizziness

  • Nausea

  • Palpitations in the absence of identified cardiac pathology

  • Hypersensivity to touch/noise/light