ArticlePharmacoEconomics - open2018
Functional Status and Well-Being in People with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Compared with People with Multiple Sclerosis and Healthy Controls.
Article in PharmacoEconomics - open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 45 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
45 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pathophysiological mechanisms of post-exertional malaise: an integrative analysis based on the metabolism-immune-neuro interaction model.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Pooled it
- Recent research in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: an evidence map.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2025Pooled it
- ME/CFS and the emotional toll of persistent disbelief: from epistemic to affective injustice.Medicine, health care, and philosophy · 2026Article
- Underuse of Pharmacologic Therapies for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Before Specialist Evaluation.Annals of family medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Improving Diagnostic Accuracy of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Through a Point-of-Care Clinical Algorithm.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Evaluation of an Online Patient Education Program for Children and Young People with ME/CFS and their Parents within the BAYNET FOR MECFS Study.Neuropediatrics · 2026Article
- A Short-Term Pacing Intervention in People with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Pilot Study in Portugal.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Article
- An Overview of Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Overcoming barriers in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome research: the CureME participatory model.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- Abnormal T-Cell activation and cytotoxic T-Cell frequency discriminate symptom severity in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Evaluating the Causal Role of Genetically Inferred Immune Cells and Inflammatory Cytokines on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- The search for a blood-based biomarker for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): from biochemistry to electrophysiology.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Review
- Medication use and symptomology in North American women with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Sustained illness burden over time among Australians with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.PloS one · 2025Article
- Development and Implementation of an Online Patient Education Program for Children and Adolescents With Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Their Parents, Siblings, and School Personnel: Protocol for the Prospective BAYNET FOR ME/CFS Study.JMIR research protocols · 2024Article
- Impact of Long COVID on productivity and informal caregiving.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2024Article
- [Interdisciplinary, collaborative D-A-CH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) consensus statement concerning the diagnostic and treatment of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome].Wiener klinische Wochenschrift · 2024Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPeople with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) continue to struggle to have their condition recognised as disabling in the face of public and professional prejudice and discrimination.
objectiveThe aim of this study was to compare the functional status and well-being of people with well-characterised ME/CFS with people with multiple sclerosis (PWMS), as well as healthy controls (HCs).
methodsIn this cross-sectional study, we used data collected as part of the UK ME/CFS Biobank to compare actual participant scores from the Medical Outcomes Survey Short Form-36 v2™ (SF-36v2™) between groups, as a proxy for impact of disability, and from a bespoke questionnaire seeking data on employment and income.
resultsPeople with ME/CFS scored significantly lower than PWMS or HCs in almost all SF-36v2™ areas. Prominent were lower scores for people with ME/CFS in the Physical Component Summary and Role Physical and Social Function domains, while the smallest differences were seen in the Mental Health domain. Responses to the bespoke questionnaire indicated that people with ME/CFS in this study work fewer hours and have lower incomes compared with people in the other two groups.
conclusionsUsing SF-36v2™ scores as a proxy, people with ME/CFS were measurably more disabled than PWMS or HCs in this study population. Furthermore, employment and income data are consistent with loss of functional status. These findings should encourage the health community to recognise the disabling effects of ME/CFS, to advocate for the needs of people with ME/CFS, and to investigate strategies to address the cost of the disease to both individuals and society.
Identifiers
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.