ORIGINAL ARTICLE

How fatigue is related to other somatic symptoms

E M van de Putte¹, R H H Engelbert², W Kuis¹, J L L Kimpen¹, C S P M Uiterwaal³

¹ Department of Paediatrics, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands
² Department of Paediatric Physical Therapy and Paediatric Exercise Physiology, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands
³ Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands

Correspondence to:
Dr E M van de Putte
KE04.133.1, University Medical Center Utrecht, PO Box 85090, 3508 AB Utrecht, Netherlands; E.vandePutte{at}umcutrecht.nl

Aims: To assess the relation between fatigue and somatic symptoms in healthy adolescents and adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalopathy (CFS/ME).

Methods: Seventy two adolescents with CFS were compared within a cross-sectional study design with 167 healthy controls. Fatigue and somatic complaints were measured using self-report questionnaires, respectively the subscale subjective fatigue of the Checklist Individual Strength (CIS-20) and the Children’s Somatization Inventory.

Results: Healthy adolescents reported the same somatic symptoms as adolescents with CFS/ME, but with a lower score of severity. The top 10 somatic complaints were the same: low energy, headache, heaviness in arms/legs, dizziness, sore muscles, hot/cold spells, weakness in body parts, pain in joints, nausea/upset stomach, back pain. There was a clear positive relation between log somatic symptoms and fatigue (linear regression coefficient: 0.041 points log somatic complaints per score point fatigue, 95% CI 0.033 to 0.049) which did not depend on disease status.

Conclusions: Results suggest a continuum with a gradual transition from fatigue with associated symptoms in healthy adolescents to the symptom complex of CFS/ME.

Abbreviations: CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; CFS, chronic fatigue syndrome; CIS-20, Children’s Somatization Inventory; ME, myalgic encephalopathy

Keywords: chronic fatigue syndrome; fatigue; somatic complaints; adolescence; healthy

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