Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32571354›Full record

ArticleJournal of translational medicine2020

Epidemiological and clinical factors associated with post-exertional malaise severity in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.

Alaa Ghali, Paul Richa, Carole Lacout, Aline Gury, Anne-Berengere Beucher, Chadi Homedan, Christian Lavigne, Geoffrey Urbanski

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of translational medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 27% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Recent research in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: an evidence map.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2025
    Pooled it
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Alaa GhaliDepartment of Internal Medicine, University Hospital, 49000, Angers, France. alghali@chu-angers.fr.ORCID 0000-0003-2040-3387
Paul RichaDepartment of Internal Medicine, University Hospital, 49000, Angers, France.
Carole LacoutDepartment of Internal Medicine, University Hospital, 49000, Angers, France.
Aline GuryDepartment of Internal Medicine, University Hospital, 49000, Angers, France.
Anne-Berengere BeucherDepartment of Internal Medicine, University Hospital, 49000, Angers, France.
Chadi HomedanDepartment of Biochemistry and Genetics, University Hospital, 49000, Angers, France.
Christian LavigneDepartment of Internal Medicine, University Hospital, 49000, Angers, France.
Geoffrey UrbanskiDepartment of Internal Medicine, University Hospital, 49000, Angers, France.
Université d'Angers · FRCentre Hospitalier Universitaire d'Angers · FR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPost-exertional malaise (PEM), the cardinal feature of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), occurs generally after exposure to a stressor. It is characterized by the worsening of ME/CFS symptoms and results in aggravating the course of the disease and the quality of life of patients. Due to its unpredictable onset, severity, and recovery time, identifying patients with higher risk for severe PEM would allow preventing or reducing its occurrence. We thus aimed at defining possible factors that could be associated with PEM severity.

methodsAdult patients fulfilling ME international consensus criteria who attended the internal medicine department of University hospital Angers-France between October 2011 and December 2019 were included retrospectively. All patients were systematically hospitalized for an etiological workup and overall assessment. We reviewed their medical records for data related to the assessment: epidemiological data, fatigue features, clinical manifestations, and ME/CFS precipitants. PEM severity was appreciated by the Center for Disease Control self-reported questionnaire. The study population was classified into quartiles according to PEM severity scores. Analyses were performed with ordinal logistic regression to compare quartile groups.

results197 patients were included. PEM severity was found to be positively associated with age at disease onset ≥ 32 years (OR 1.8 [95% CI 1.1-3.0] (p = 0.03)), recurrent infections during the course of the disease (OR 2.1 [95% CI 1.2-3.7] (p = 0.009)), and when ME/CFS was elicited by a gastrointestinal infectious precipitant (OR 5.7 [1.7-19.3] (p = 0.006)).

conclusionWe identified some epidemiological and clinical features, which were positively associated with PEM severity in subsets of ME/CFS patients. This could help improving disease management and patients' quality of life.

Indexed as

Fatigue Syndrome, ChronicAdultFranceHumansQuality of LifeRetrospective StudiesSelf ReportAgeInfectious precipitantsMyalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndromePost-exertional malaiseRecurrent infections

Identifiers

PMID32571354
PMCPMC7309998
OpenAlexW3036634298

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.