Epidemiology of myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome

From MEpedia, a crowd-sourced encyclopedia of ME and CFS science and history
Revision as of 00:16, August 18, 2018 by Bill (talk | contribs) (fix main template)

Worldwide, an estimated 15 to 20 million people[citation needed] have myalgic encephalomyelitis. It is more prevalent in women than men and affects children as young as X and adults as old as X. In 80% of causes, the onset follows an acute infection.

Incidence and Prevalence[edit | edit source]

The prevalence rate is projected at 0.2%[1][2]-0.4%[3][4] although estimates vary widely due to different definitions and sampling methods used[5]

Estimated incidence rates – generally, the number of new cases in a single year – vary from 0.025%[6] to 0.3% of the population.

Incidence and prevalence by country[edit | edit source]

Country Incidence Prevalence rate Total number
Australia 242,000 people have CFS (of which 94,000 meet a narrower definition for ME).[7]
United Kingdom 0.015%[1] 0.03-0.19%[1] 250,000[citation needed]
United States 836,000 to 2.5 million[citation needed]
The Netherlands 0,11%[8][9] 30.000-40.000[10]

Incidence and prevalence by definition[edit | edit source]

Method 12-month incidence Prevalence rate
Postviral fatigue syndrome (ICD-10-CM G93.3 in a national health registry in Norway) 0.025%[11] (NO)
Fukuda Criteria (CDC-1994 definition) 0.19%[1] (UK), 0.24%[2] (US. Kansas), 0.42%[3] (US, Chicago),
Canadian Consensus Criteria (CCC) 0.11%[1] (UK)
Empirical definition (Reeves criteria) 2,54%[12]
Epidemiological Case Definition (ECD) 0.03%[1] (UK)
0.015%[1] (UK)
Diagnoses reported by general practitioners and pediatricians in the Netherlands (criteria unspecified) 0.012%[13] (NL, 10-18 year olds) 0.11%[13] (NL, 10-18 year olds)

Sex[edit | edit source]

Age and gender distribution of ME/CFS.[6]

Numerous studies have found the rates of ME/CFS to be substantially higher in adult women than in men, with estimates ranging from 75-85%.[3][14][15]

A higher preponderance of women has also been noted in numerous outbreaks including Los Angeles, Akureyri, Rockville, MD, Royal Free Hospital, and Punta Gorda, Florida.[16][17][18][19][20][21][22] In some cases, this was thought to do with the occupational hazard of nursing, but this female-skewed sex ratio was also found in several outbreaks among the general population. However, in other outbreaks, including the 1949-1953 Adelaide outbreak and an outbreak in northern England in 1955, a 1:1 gender ratio was reported.[16] In Akureyri, a significantly higher incidence rate was found among adult women but not in patients under twenty.[22]

Age[edit | edit source]

New cases of myalgic encephalomyelitis have been in children as young as eight and adults in their eighties. In terms of incidence, a study in Norway found two age peaks, one between 10 and 19 years and a second peak between 30 and 39 years.[23] In terms of prevalence, Jason found that individuals in the 40- to 49-year-old age range exhibited the highest prevalence rates of CFS.[3]

Race and ethnicity[edit | edit source]

In 1999, a community-based study by Dr Leonard Jason, et al, performed in the Chicago area found that individuals who identified as people of color exhibited higher rates of CFS than whites, with Latino participants demonstrating the highest CFS prevalence.[3]

Socioeconomic characteristics[edit | edit source]

The prevalence of CFS was highest among skilled workers and lowest among professionals.[3]

Severity[edit | edit source]

Comparison of disability for ME/CFS and other conditions

People with ME/CFS are more disabled and socially marginalized than for most other chronic illnesses.[24]

Around 25 per cent of people with ME/CFS will have a mild form and be able to get to school or work either part-time or full-time, while reducing other activities. About 50 per cent will have a moderate to severe form of ME/CFS and not be able to get to school or work. Another 25 per cent will experience severe ME/CFS and have to stay at home or in bed.[citation needed]

In the US, 50-75% of patients with ME/CFS cannot work.[citation needed]

Risk factors[edit | edit source]

Genetics[edit | edit source]

5% of children of mothers with ME/CFS later developed the illness.[25]

Infection[edit | edit source]

Infection is a major risk factor for the development of post-viral fatigue syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, and myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Prognosis[edit | edit source]

On average, many people with ME/CFS will improve in the first five years, but others may mainly stay at home or in bed, or may suffer relapses throughout their lives.[citation needed]

Mortality[edit | edit source]

One study found no increased risk of all cause mortality or mortality from cancer but an increased risk of suicide. Suicide risk was increased 6.85 compared to the general population.[26] It was based on a cohort that used multiple clinical criteria, including the Oxford criteria.[27] A Spanish study found a suicide risk of 12.75% versus 2.3% in the general population.[28]

A 2006 study by Leonard Jason found that ME/CFS patients died of cancer, heart failure and suicide at considerable younger age than the general population. For example while the median age of death for cancer in the US was 72, the average age at which ME/CFS patients died of cancer was 47. And while the average age of heart failure in the general population was 83, it was only 58 in the ME/CFS sample.[29]

.

Learn more[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Nacul, LC (July 2011). "Prevalence of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) in three regions of England: a repeated cross-sectional study in primary care". BMC Medicine. 9: 91.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Reyes, Michele (July 14, 2003). "Prevalence and Incidence of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Wichita, Kansas". JAMA Internal Medicine. 163: 1530–1536.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Jason, LA; Richman, JA; Rademaker, AW; Jordan, KM; Plioplys, AV; Taylor, RR; McCready, W; Huang, C; Plioplys, S (1999), "A Community-Based Study of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome", Arch Intern Med, 159 (18): 2129-2137, doi:10.1001/archinte.159.18.2129
  4. "Analysis of data from 500,000 individuals in UK Biobank demonstrates an inherited component to ME/CFS". ME/CFS Research Review. June 11, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  5. Johnston, Samantha; Brenu, Ekua W.; Staines, Donald; Marshall-Gradisnik, Sonya (2013). "The prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome/ myalgic encephalomyelitis: a meta-analysis". Clinical Epidemiology. 5: 105–110. doi:10.2147/CLEP.S39876. ISSN 1179-1349. PMC 3616604. PMID 23576883.
  6. 6.0 6.1 Bakken, Inger Johanne; Tveito, Kari; Gunnes, Nina; Ghaderi, Sara; Stoltenberg, Camilla; Trogstad, Lill; Håberg, Siri Eldevik; Magnus, Per (October 1, 2014). "Two age peaks in the incidence of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: a population-based registry study from Norway 2008-2012". BMC medicine. 12: 167. doi:10.1186/s12916-014-0167-5. ISSN 1741-7015. PMC 4189623. PMID 25274261.
  7. Emerge Quarterly Journal, AUTUMN 2016 - Vol 36 - No 1, page 14, Mar 2016
  8. Bazelmans E, Vercoulen J.H.M.M, Galama J.M.D, Van Weel, C, Van Der Meer J.W.M, Bleijenberg G. (1997). Prevalentie van het chronische-vermoeidheidssyndroom en het primaire-fibromyalgiesyndroom in Nederland. Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde; 141: 1520-1523. 
  9. Versluis R.G.J.A, De Waal M.W.M, Opmeer C, Petri H, Springer M.P. (1997). Prevalentie van het chronische-vermoeidheidssyndroom in 4 huisartspraktijken in de regio Leiden. Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde; 141(31): 1523-26. 
  10. Gezondheidsraad. ME/CVS. Den Haag: Gezondheidsraad, 2018; publicatienr. 2018/07.
  11. Magnus, P (November 17, 2015). "Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is associated with pandemic influenza infection, but not with an adjuvanted pandemic influenza vaccine". Vaccine. 33: 6173–7.
  12. Reeves, William C.; Jones, James F.; Maloney, Elizabeth; Heim, Christine; Hoaglin, David C.; Boneva, Roumiana S.; Morrissey, Marjorie; Devlin, Rebecca (June 8, 2007). "Prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome in metropolitan, urban, and rural Georgia". Population Health Metrics. 5: 5. doi:10.1186/1478-7954-5-5. ISSN 1478-7954. PMC 1904178. PMID 17559660.
  13. 13.0 13.1 Nijhof, Sanne (April 2011). "Adolescent Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Prevalence, Incidence, and Morbidity". Pediatrics.
  14. Bakken, Inger Johanne; Tveito, Kari; Gunnes, Nina; Ghaderi, Sara; Stoltenberg, Camilla; Trogstad, Lill; Håberg, Siri Eldevik; Magnus, Per (October 1, 2014). "Two age peaks in the incidence of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: a population-based registry study from Norway 2008-2012". BMC medicine. 12: 167. doi:10.1186/s12916-014-0167-5. ISSN 1741-7015. PMC 4189623. PMID 25274261.
  15. Gunn, Walter (1993). "Epidemiology of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: The Centers for Disease Control Study". Ciba Foundation Symposium 173 ‐ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
  16. 16.0 16.1 Parish, JG (1978). "Early outbreaks of 'epidemic neuromyasthenia'". Postgraduate Medical Journal. 54: 711–7.
  17. Shelokov, Alexis; Habel, Karl; Verder, Elizabeth; Welsh, William (August 1957), "Epidemic Neuromyasthenia — An Outbreak of Poliomyelitis-like Illness in Student Nurses", New England Journal of Medicine, 1957 (257): 345-355, doi:10.1056/NEJM195708222570801
  18. Gilliam, A.G. (1938), "Epidemiological Study Of An Epidemic, Diagnosed As Poliomyelitis, Occurring Among The Personnel Of The Los Angeles County General Hospital During The Summer Of 1934", Public health bulletin, 1936-1938, no.231-240
  19. Acheson, E.D. (1959), "The Clinical Syndrome Variously Called Benign Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Iceland Disease and Epidemic Neuromyasthenia" (PDF), American Journal of Medicine, 26 (4): 569–595
  20. Poskanzer, David C.; Henderson, Donald A.; Kunkle, E. Charles; Kalter, Seymour S.; Clement, Walter B.; Bond, James O. (1957), "Epidemic Neuromyasthenia — An Outbreak in Punta Gorda, Florida", New England Journal of Medicine, 1957 (257): 356-364, doi:10.1056/NEJM195708222570802, PMID 13464939
  21. "An Outbreak of Encephalomyelitis in the Royal Free Hospital Group, London, in 1955". British Medical Journal. 2 (5050): 895–904. October 19, 1957. ISSN 0007-1447. PMC 1962472. PMID 13472002.
  22. 22.0 22.1 Sigurdsson, B (September 1950). "A disease epidemic in Iceland simulating poliomyelitis". American Journal of Hygiene. 52: 222–38.
  23. Bakken, Inger Johanne; Tveito, Kari; Gunnes, Nina; Ghaderi, Sara; Stoltenberg, Camilla; Trogstad, Lill; Håberg, Siri Eldevik; Magnus, Per (October 1, 2014). "Two age peaks in the incidence of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: a population-based registry study from Norway 2008-2012". BMC medicine. 12: 167. doi:10.1186/s12916-014-0167-5. ISSN 1741-7015. PMC 4189623. PMID 25274261.
  24. Falk Hvidberg et al, The Health-Related Quality of Life for Patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), PLOS One, 5 Jul 2015.
  25. http://www.njcfsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Pregnancy-in-Women-with-ME-CFS.pdf
  26. Roberts, Emmert; Wessely, Simon; Chalder, Trudie; Chang, Chin-Kuo; Hotopf, Matthew (April 2016). "Mortality of people with chronic fatigue syndrome: a retrospective cohort study in England and Wales from the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust Biomedical Research Centre (SLaM BRC) Clinical Record Interactive Search (CRIS) Register". The Lancet. 387 (10028): 1638–1643. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(15)01223-4. ISSN 0140-6736.
  27. Interpretive jiggery-pokery in The Lancet A tale of a convenience sample with inconvenient serious limitations. Quick Thoughts, a blog by James Coyne, February 16, 2016
  28. "RISK OF SUICIDE DUE TO NEGLECT AMONGST PWME". Plataforma de Afectadas por los Recortes Sanitarios - La PARS (in español). May 11, 2016. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  29. Jason, Leonard A.; Corradi, Karina; Gress, Sara; Williams, Sarah; Torres-Harding, Susan (August 2006). "Causes of death among patients with chronic fatigue syndrome". Health Care for Women International. 27 (7): 615–626. doi:10.1080/07399330600803766. ISSN 0739-9332. PMID 16844674.