ArticleBMC health services research2010
The hidden cost of chronic fatigue to patients and their families.
Article in BMC health services research, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 71 citations in OpenAlex.
- Chinese herbal medicine for post-viral fatigue: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Fatigue and cognitive impairment in Post-COVID-19 Syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2022Pooled it
- Funding Health Promotion Activities to Reduce Avoidable Hospital Admissions in Frail Older Adults (HomeHealth): Further Challenges to the "Cost-Effective but Unaffordable" Paradox.Applied health economics and health policy · 2025Trial
- An assessment of the anti-fatigue effects of ketamine from a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study in bipolar disorder.Journal of affective disorders · 2016Trial
- The effect of counselling, graded exercise and usual care for people with chronic fatigue in primary care: a randomized trial.Psychological medicine · 2012Trial
- Cost-effectiveness of counselling, graded-exercise and usual care for chronic fatigue: evidence from a randomised trial in primary care.BMC health services research · 2012Trial
- Trial
- Which needs do children, adolescents, and young adults with ME/CFS and their parents express and feel? - Qualitative study in Germany.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Burden of Disease in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): A Scoping Review.Applied health economics and health policy · 2026Article
- Safety and Effectiveness of an Exercise-Based Telerehabilitation Program in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Post COVID Syndrome: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Cost Utility of Specialist Physiotherapy for Functional Motor Disorder (Physio4FMD): Economic Analysis of a Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial.Neurology. Clinical practice · 2025Article
- The hidden costs of informal caregiving: a concept analysis.BMC nursing · 2024Article
- Impact of Long COVID on productivity and informal caregiving.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2024Article
- Article
- Symptom Clusters in Acute SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Long COVID Fatigue in Male and Female Outpatients.Journal of personalized medicine · 2024Article
- Assessment of post-SARS-CoV-2 fatigue among physicians working in COVID-designated hospitals in Dhaka, Bangladesh.Brain and behavior · 2024Article
- Profile and quality of life of the adult population in good health according to the level of vitality: European NHWS cross sectional analysis.BMC public health · 2023Observational
- Global prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome among long COVID-19 patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.BioPsychoSocial medicine · 2022Article
- Evolution of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Symptoms During the First 12 Months After Illness Onset.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2022Article
- Severe Fatigue in Long COVID: Web-Based Quantitative Follow-up Study in Members of Online Long COVID Support Groups.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundNearly 1 in 10 in the population experience fatigue of more than six months at any one time. Chronic fatigue is a common reason for consulting a general practitioner, and some patients report their symptoms are not taken seriously enough. A gap in perceptions may occur because doctors underestimate the impact of fatigue on patients' lives. The main aim of the study is to explore the economic impact of chronic fatigue in patients seeking help from general practitioners and to identify characteristics that explain variations in costs.
methodsThe design of study was a survey of patients presenting to general practitioners with unexplained chronic fatigue. The setting were 29 general practice surgeries located in the London and South Thames regions of the English National Health Service. Use of services over a six month period was measured and lost employment recorded. Regression models were used to identify factors that explained variations in these costs.
resultsThe mean total cost of services and lost employment across the sample of 222 patients was 3878 pounds for the six-month period. Formal services accounted for 13% of this figure, while lost employment accounted for 61% and informal care for 26%. The variation in the total costs was significantly related to factors linked to the severity of the condition and social functioning.
conclusionsThe economic costs generated by chronic fatigue are high and mostly borne by patients and their families. Enquiry about the functional consequences of fatigue on the social and occupational lives of patients may help doctors understand the impact of fatigue, and make patients feel better understood.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.