Postexertional Malaise in Women with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

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'Postexertional Malaise in Women with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome'

Vanness JM, s SR, Bateman L, Stiles TL, Snell CR.

Pacific Fatigue Laboratory, University of the Pacific , Stockton, California.

J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2010 Jan 24

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20095909

Abstract

Objective: Postexertional malaise (PEM) is a defining characteristic

of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) that remains a source of some

controversy. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of

an exercise challenge on CFS symptoms from a patient perspective.

Methods: This study included 25 female CFS patients and 23 age-matched

sedentary controls. All participants underwent a maximal

cardiopulmonary exercise test. Subjects completed a health and

well-being survey (SF-36) 7 days postexercise. Subjects also provided,

approximately 7 days after testing, written answers to open-ended

questions pertaining to physical and cognitive responses to the test

and length of recovery. SF-36 data were compared using multivariate

analyses. Written questionnaire responses were used to determine

recovery time as well as number and type of symptoms experienced.

Results: Written questionnaires revealed that within 24 hours of the

test, 85% of controls indicated full recovery, in contrast to 0 CFS

patients. The remaining 15% of controls recovered within 48 hours of

the test. In contrast, only 1 CFS patient recovered within 48 hours.

Symptoms reported after the exercise test included fatigue,

light-headedness, muscular/joint pain, cognitive dysfunction,

headache, nausea, physical weakness, trembling/instability, insomnia,

and sore throat/glands. A significant multivariate effect for the

SF-36 responses (p < 0.001) indicated lower functioning among the CFS

patients, which was most pronounced for items measuring physiological

function.

Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that PEM is both a real

and an incapacitating condition for women with CFS and that their

responses to exercise are distinctively different from those of

sedentary controls.