INCREASED ILLNESS EXPERIENCE PRECEDING CHRONIC-FATIGUE-SYNDROME - A CASE-CONTROL STUDY

Background: Almost all published work on chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS ) has involved retrospective surveys of cases, which may introduce rec all bias. Only medical records collected before diagnosis of CFS fan e liminate this. Methods: Using data collected several years prior to th e development of the illness, we performed a case control study, compa ring the reported illness records of all people who subsequently made an insurance claim as a result of CFS, with those of future multiple s clerosis (MS) claimants, and those of non-claimant controls (NC). Resu lts: The study encompassed 133 CFS, 75 MS and 162 Nf cases. CFS cases had recorded significantly more illnesses at time of proposal for insu rance than the two control groups, and had significantly more claims b etween proposal and diagnosis of their disorder. Almost all disease ca tegories were reported higher in future CFS sufferers, lethargy having the highest odds ratio after adjustment in a multivariate model. Inte rpretation: The results of this paper on CFS patients who claim perman ent health insurance do not support a specific viral or immunological explanation for CFS. We conclude that abnormal illness behaviour is of greater importance than previously recognised.