RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Recovery from chronic fatigue syndrome: a systematic review—heterogeneity of definition limits study comparison
JF Archives of Disease in Childhood
JO Arch Dis Child
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
SP 1087
OP 1094
DO 10.1136/archdischild-2020-320196
VO 106
IS 11
A1 Moore, Yasmin
A1 Serafimova, Teona
A1 Anderson, Nina
A1 King, Hayley
A1 Richards, Alison
A1 Brigden, Amberly
A1 Sinai, Parisa
A1 Higgins, Julian
A1 Ascough, Caitlin
A1 Clery, Philippa
A1 Crawley, Esther M
YR 2021
UL http://adc.bmj.com/content/106/11/1087.abstract
AB Background Paediatric chronic fatigue syndrome or myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is a common illness with a major impact on quality of life. Recovery is poorly understood. Our aim was to describe definitions of recovery in paediatric CFS/ME, the rate of recovery and the time to recovery.Methods This systematic review included a detailed search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycInfo and Cochrane Library between 1994 and July 2018. Inclusion criteria were (1) clinical trials and observational studies, (2) participants aged <19 years with CFS/ME, (3) conducted in Western Healthcare systems and (4) studies including a measure of recovery and time taken to recover.Results Twelve papers (10 studies) were identified, involving 826 patients (range 23–135). Recovery rates were highly varied, ranging between 4.5% and 83%.Eleven distinct definitions of recovery were used; six were composite outcomes while five used unidimensional outcomes. Outcome measures used to define recovery were highly heterogeneous. School attendance (n=8), fatigue (n=6) and physical functioning (n=4) were the most common outcomes included in definition of recovery. Only five definitions included a personal measure of recovery.Implications Definitions of recovery are highly variable, likely secondary to differences in study design, outcomes used, follow-up and study populations. Heterogeneous definitions of recovery limit meaningful comparison between studies, highlighting the need for a consensus definition going forward. Recovery is probably best defined from the child’s own perspective with a single self-reported measure. If composite measures are used for research, there should be agreement on the core outcome set used.No additional data are available. All data discussed here has been published previously.