depression and CFS

[Guest guest]

Can someone help me understand how they came to the conclusion they

did, when most of the comparisons between CFS patients and fatigued

control subjects were similar? Am I missing something? Or are

physicians misinterpreting the conclusion? I mean, isn't it just saying

that psychological causes should be looked at because everyone might

have them?

My physician just told me that CFS patients are usually depressed

before they get CFS and that's what the literature says. I said that

wasn't true. We are finally having a showdown about issues like this.

- Kate D.

Depression and somatization in the chronic fatigue syndrome.

Lane TJ, Manu P, s DA.

Department of Medicine, University of Connecticut School of Medicine,

Farmington 06032.

PURPOSE: To report the prevalence, clinical features, and diagnostic

associations of the proposed chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in a cohort

of patients with chronic fatigue and to assess the usefulness of a

structured psychiatric interview for detecting previously unrecognized

psychiatric morbidity in patients with CFS. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A

consecutive sample of 200 adult patients with a chief complaint of

chronic fatigue was prospectively evaluated in a referral-based clinic

within a university general medicine practice. All patients received a

thorough medical history, physical examination, diagnostic laboratory

testing, and portions of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, version

III-A. The criteria for CFS were applied, and patients with CFS were

compared with matched control subjects from the inception cohort.

RESULTS: The 60 patients with CFS had similar likelihoods of current

psychiatric disorders (78% versus 82%), active mood disorders (73%

versus 77%), and preexisting psychiatric disorders (42% versus 43%)

when compared with fatigued control subjects. Patients with CFS were

more likely to have somatization disorder (p less than 0.001) and to

attribute their illness to a physical cause (p less than 0.005) than

fatigued controls. Patients with CFS also displayed functional

symptoms, often lifelong, which are not part of the case definition of

CFS. Depressive features in patients with CFS were similar to those of

control subjects, but a trend toward suicidal behavior was noted.

CONCLUSIONS: Patients with CFS have a high prevalence of unrecognized,

current psychiatric disorders, which often predate their fatigue

syndrome. Assessment of patients with CFS should include a structured

psychiatric evaluation.

PMID: 1951377 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]