SynthesisMedicine and science in sports and exercise2016
Effect of Acute Exercise on Fatigue in People with ME/CFS/SEID: A Meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 3 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
23 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exercise training mode effects on myokine expression in healthy adults: A systematic review with meta-analysis.Journal of sport and health science · 2024Pooled it
- The evidence base for physiotherapy in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome when considering post-exertional malaise: a systematic review and narrative synthesis.Journal of translational medicine · 2021Pooled it
- Elevated Perceived Exertion in People with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia: A Meta-analysis.Medicine and science in sports and exercise · 2020Pooled it
- Association of rapamycin treatment with the modulation of purine metabolism, reduced microglial inflammatory responses, improved mitochondrial energy metabolism, and alleviation of fatigue symptoms in ME/CFS subjects: pilot findings from phase-II observational study.Journal of translational medicine · 2026Trial
- Psychological responses to acute exercise in patients with stress-induced exhaustion disorder: a cross-over randomized trial.BMC psychiatry · 2025Trial
- Exercise does not cause post-exertional malaise in Veterans with Gulf War Illness: A randomized, controlled, dose-response, crossover study.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2024Trial
- Functional Limitations and Exercise Intolerance in Patients With Post-COVID Condition: A Randomized Crossover Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2024Trial
- Compression Stockings Improve Cardiac Output and Cerebral Blood Flow during Tilt Testing in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Patients: A Randomized Crossover Trial.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2021Trial
- Postexertional Symptom Exacerbation after Submaximal Exercise in Individuals with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Postacute Sequelae of COVID-19.Medicine and science in sports and exercise · 2026Article
- Pathophysiological mechanisms of fatigue and multidisciplinary management strategies (Review).Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2026Review
- Increased physical performance after personalised physiotherapy and nutritional counselling in adults with post-COVID-19 condition: a feasibility randomised trial.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- Submaximal 2-day cardiopulmonary exercise testing to assess exercise capacity and post-exertional symptom exacerbation in people with long COVID.Experimental physiology · 2026Article
- Genetic depletion of the early autophagy protein ATG13 impairs mitochondrial energy metabolism, augments oxidative stress, induces the polarization of macrophages to the M1 inflammatory mode, and compromises myelin integrity in skeletal muscle.Inflammation research : official journal of the European Histamine Research Society ... [et al.] · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of Exercise-Based Rehabilitation in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.International journal of exercise science · 2025Review
- An Exercise Immune Fitness Test to Unravel Disease Mechanisms-A Proof-of-Concept Heart Failure Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Physical Activity and Fatigue Symptoms: Neurotypical Adults and People with Chronic Multisymptom Illnesses.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2024Article
- Intramuscular mitochondrial and lipid metabolic changes of rats after regular high-intensity interval training (HIIT) of different training periods.Molecular biology reports · 2023Article
- Post-exertional malaise in daily life and experimental exercise models in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.Frontiers in physiology · 2023Article
- Rationale and methodology for examining the acute effects of aerobic exercise combined with varying degrees of virtual reality immersion on cognition in persons with TBI.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purposeA prominent symptom of myalgic encephalomyelitis, chronic fatigue syndrome, or systemic exertion intolerance disease (ME/CFS/SEID) is persistent fatigue that is worsened by physical exertion. Here the population effect of a single bout of exercise on fatigue symptoms in people with ME/CFS/SEID was estimated and effect moderators were identified.
methodsGoogle Scholar was systematically searched for peer-reviewed articles published between February 1991 and May 2015. Studies were included where people diagnosed with ME/CFS/SEID and matched control participants completed a single bout of exercise and fatigue self-reports were obtained before and after exercise. Fatigue means, standard deviations, and sample sizes were extracted to calculate effect sizes and the 95% confidence interval. Effects were pooled using a random-effects model and corrected for small sample bias to generate mean Δ. Multilevel regression modeling adjusted for nesting of effects within studies. Moderators identified a priori were diagnostic criteria, fibromyalgia comorbidity, exercise factors (intensity, duration, and type), and measurement factors.
resultsSeven studies examining 159 people with ME/CFS/SEID met inclusion criteria, and 47 fatigue effects were derived. The mean fatigue effect was Δ = 0.73 (95% confidence interval = 0.24-1.23). Fatigue increases were larger for people with ME/CFS/SEID when fatigue was measured 4 h or more after exercise ended rather than during or immediately after exercise ceased.
conclusionsThis preliminary evidence indicates that acute exercise increases fatigue in people with ME/CFS/SEID more than that in control groups, but effects were heterogeneous between studies. Future studies with no-exercise control groups of people with ME/CFS/SEID are needed to obtain a more precise estimate of the effect of exercise on fatigue in this population.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.