The Health-Related Quality of Life for Patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)

Summary & key facts

This study measured health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Danish patients with ME/CFS using the EQ-5D-3L tool and found their scores were much lower than the general population and lower than 20 other conditions. The average (unadjusted) EQ-5D-3L score for the ME/CFS group was 0.47, while the population average was 0.85. After adjusting for age, gender, education and 18 other conditions, ME/CFS was linked to a large reduction in HRQoL. The authors note the results may be affected by possible selection bias and say more studies are needed.

Key facts:

• The unadjusted average EQ-5D-3L score for ME/CFS patients in this study was 0.47 (95% CI 0.41–0.53).
• The population reference EQ-5D-3L mean used for comparison was 0.85 (95% CI 0.84–0.86).
• An adjusted ordinary least squares regression estimated a disutility of -0.29 for ME/CFS (95% CI -0.34 to -0.21), after controlling for gender, age, education, and 18 self-reported co-morbid conditions.
• The ME/CFS group had the lowest EQ-5D-3L score among the 20 conditions the study compared.
• The ME/CFS patient sample came from the Danish ME/CFS Patient Association: 105 people identified with ME/CFS (103 had complete EQ-5D responses). The population reference sample had 23,392 respondents from the North Denmark Health Profile Su
• The EQ-5D-3L index used Danish time trade-off preference weights and ranges from -0.624 (states worse than death) to 1.000 (full health).
• The authors reported that ME/CFS patients differed from the population on characteristics like gender, relationship status, and employment, and they cautioned that selection bias in their sample cannot be ruled out.

Abstract

The EQ-5D-3L-based HRQoL of ME/CFS is significantly lower than the population mean and the lowest of all the compared conditions. The adjusted analysis confirms that poor HRQoL of ME/CFS is distinctly different from and not a proxy of the other included conditions. However, further studies are needed to exclude the possible selection bias of the current study.

Topics

Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research Resilience and Mental Health

Categories

Health Sciences Medicine Psychiatry and Mental health

Tags

Chronic fatigue syndrome Disease Encephalomyelitis Health related quality of life Immunology Internal medicine Medicine Multiple sclerosis Nursing Physical therapy Quality of life (healthcare)