Dataset Information

Are current chronic fatigue syndrome criteria diagnosing different disease phenotypes?

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is characterised by a constellation of symptoms diagnosed with a number of different polythetic criteria. Heterogeneity across these diagnostic criteria is likely to be confounding research into the as-yet-unknown pathophysiology underlying this stigmatised and debilitating condition and may diagnose a disease spectrum with significant implications for clinical management. No studies to date have objectively investigated this possibility using a validated measure of CFS symptoms-the DePaul Symptom Questionnaire (DSQ).

Objective

To examine whether current CFS diagnostic criteria are identifying different disease phenotypes using the DSQ.

Design

Case control study.

Setting

Clinical Research Facility of the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.

Participants

49 CFS subjects and ten matched, sedentary community controls, excluded for co-morbid depression.

Main outcomes and measures

Self-reported autonomic and cognitive features were assessed with the Composite Autonomic Symptom Score (COMPASS) and Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (COGFAIL) respectively. Objective autonomic cardiovascular parameters were examined using the Task Force® Monitor and a battery of neuropsychological tests administered for objective cognitive assessment.

Results

Self-reported autonomic and cognitive symptoms were significantly greater in CFS subjects compared to controls. There were no statistically significant differences in objective autonomic measures between CFS and controls. There were clinically significant differences between DSQ subgroups on objective autonomic testing. Visuospatial memory, verbal memory and psychomotor speed were significantly different between DSQ subgroups.

Conclusions and relevance

The finding of no significant differences in objective autonomic testing between CFS and control subjects may reflect the inclusion of sedentary controls or exclusion for co-morbid depression. Consistent exclusion criteria would enable better delineation of these two conditions and their presenting symptoms. Findings across CFS subgroups suggest subjects have a different disease burden on subjective and objective measures of function, autonomic parameters and cognitive impairment when categorised using the DSQ. Different CFS criteria may at best be diagnosing a spectrum of disease severities and at worst different CFS phenotypes or even different diseases. This complicates research and disease management and may contribute to the significant stigma associated with the condition.

SUBMITTER: Maclachlan L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5650174 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Are current chronic fatigue syndrome criteria diagnosing different disease phenotypes?

Maclachlan Laura L Watson Stuart S Gallagher Peter P Finkelmeyer Andreas A Jason Leonard A LA Sunnquist Madison M Newton Julia L JL

PloS one 20171020 10

<h4>Importance</h4>Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is characterised by a constellation of symptoms diagnosed with a number of different polythetic criteria. Heterogeneity across these diagnostic criteria is likely to be confounding research into the as-yet-unknown pathophysiology underlying this stigmatised and debilitating condition and may diagnose a disease spectrum with significant implications for clinical management. No studies to date have objectively investigated this possibility using a ...[more]

PMID: 29053742

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Project description:Changes in the terminology and diagnostic criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis are explained in this paper. This syndrome is a complex and controversial entity of unknown origins. It appears in the medical literature in 1988, although clinical pictures of chronic idiopathic fatigue have been identified since the nineteenth century with different names, from neurasthenia, epidemic neuromyasthenia, and benign myalgic encephalomyelitis up to the current proposal of disease of intolerance to effort (post-effort). All of them allude to a chronic state of generalised fatigue of unknown origin, with limitations to physical and mental effort, accompanied by a set of symptoms that compromise diverse organic systems. The International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) places this syndrome in the section on neurological disorders (G93.3), although histopathological findings have not yet been found to clarify it. Multiple organic alterations have been documented, but a common biology that clarifies the mechanisms underlying this disease has not been established. It is defined as a neuro-immune-endocrine dysfunction, with an exclusively clinical diagnosis and by exclusion. Several authors have proposed to include CFS/ME within central sensitivity syndromes, alluding to central sensitisation as the common pathophysiological substrate for this, and other syndromes. The role of the family doctor is a key figure in the disease, from the detection of those patients who present a fatigue of unknown nature that is continuous or intermittent for more than 6 months, in order to make an early diagnosis and establish a plan of action against a chronic disease with high levels of morbidity in the physical and mental sphere. OBJECTIVE: To carry out a bibliographic review of the terminology and diagnostic criteria of the chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis, in order to clarify the pathology conceptually, as a usefulness in the diagnosis of Primary Care physicians.

Dataset Information

Are current chronic fatigue syndrome criteria diagnosing different disease phenotypes?

Importance

Objective

Design

Setting

Participants

Main outcomes and measures

Results

Conclusions and relevance

Publications

Are current chronic fatigue syndrome criteria diagnosing different disease phenotypes?

Similar Datasets

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