Table 1 Characteristics of included studies
Study | Country | Number of people with CFS/ME* | CFS/ME illness | Age (years) | Female gender | Ethnicity and Socioeconomic status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Â | Â | Â | Duration (years) | Severity | Â | Â | Â |
Anonymous 1997[13] | United States | 1 | NR | Moderate to severe | Adult | 100% | NR |
Sweden | 12 | 1 to 23 | A range: full time employed to sick leave, temporary disability or sickness pensions. | 32 to 65 | 100% | NR | |
Ashby et al 2006[27] | United Kingdom | 10 | 0.4 to 2 | NR | 8 to 16 | 70% | NR |
Blake 1993[14] | Canada | 1 | NR | Severe | 29 | 100% | Caucasian, well educated |
Carlsen 2003[22] | Norway | 5 | NR | NR | 23 to 67 | 80% | NR |
Canada | 59 | A range | 80% Severe; 20% moderate | 18 to 80 | 65% | Ethnicity NR; a range of education levels | |
Denz-Penhey 1993[18] | New Zealand | 10 | NR | NR | 6 to 18 | NR | NR |
Dumit, 2006[5] | United States | NR (180,000 on-line discussion postings) | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
Edwards et al 2007[8] | United Kingdom | 8 | <1 | Moderate to severe | 18 + | 100% | White British, Chinese and mixed; Socioeconomic NR |
Garralda & Rangel 2004[10] | United Kingdom | 28 | NR | Moderate to severe, but all at school or home tuition | 10 to 18 | 78% | A range of ethnicity and social class |
Gray & Fossey 2003[35] | Australia | 5 | 2 to 10 | Severe | 16 to 44 | NR | NR |
Green et al 1999[11] | United States | 44 | Mean 4.1 | NR | 18 to 57 | 89% | A range of ethnicity; socioeconomic NR |
Hammond 2002[34] | United Kingdom | 586 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
Hoad 1994[15] | United Kingdom | 1 | 3 | Moderate | fifties | 100% | White British; Socioeconomic NR |
Horton-Salway 2004[28] | United Kingdom | 15 | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
Jackson 1994[31] | United Kingdom | 3 | 2 to 6 | Severe | 20 to 51 | 100% | NR |
Jason et al 1996[40] | United States, Canada, Mexico | 984 | NR | A range | 18 to 84 | 99% | NR |
Lee et al 2001[30] | Canada | 50 | NR | Severe | 20 to 64 | 56% | NR |
Moore 2001[37] | United States | 1 | 8 | Moderate | NR | 100% | Ethnicity NR; High education |
Ong et al 2005[19] | United Kingdom | 1 | 17 | Severe | NR | 100% | NR |
Prins et al 2004[32] | The Netherlands | 268 | 2 and more | NR | 18 to 60 | 78.5% | NR |
Rangel et al 2000[41] | United Kingdom | 25 | More than 3 | Severe | 12 to 20 | NR | NR |
Reynolds and Vivat 2006[26] | United Kingdom | 3 | 16 and more | Moderate to severe | 51 to 62 | 100% | White British; high education and 'home-maker' |
Richards et al 2006[33] | United Kingdom | 21 | More than 3 | Moderate to severe | 11 to 20 | 62% | NR |
Roche & Tucker 2003[23] | United Kingdom | ≈ 474 | A range | NR | 12 to 20 | NR | NR |
Schoofs et al 2004[29] | United States | 46 | NR | NR | 18 and more | 91% | NR |
Schweitzer et al 1995[36] | Australia | 47 | NR | Moderate to severe | 26 to 50 | 70% | NR |
Sutton 1996[17] | United Kingdom | 2 | 15 to 30 | Moderate to severe | NR | 50% | NR |
Taylor & Kielhofner 2003[12] | United States | 1 | 3 | Moderate | 28 | 100% | 2nd generation Irish immigrants; High education |
Taylor 2004[9] | United States | 47 | NR | Moderate to severe | mean 49 | 96% | A range of ethnicity and social class |
Weisstein, 2006[16] | United States | 1 | 26 | Extremely Severe | About 50 | 100% | Non- minority; High education |
United Kingdom | 17 | A range | Severe | 13 to 63 | 65% | NR | |