Prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome-like caseness in the working population: results from the Maastricht cohort study
- 1Department of Medical, Clinical & Experimental Psychology, Maastricht University, Netherlands
- 2Department of Epidemiology, Maastricht University, Netherlands
- 3Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
- Correspondence to: Dr M J H Huibers Department of Medical, Clinical & Experimental Psychology, Maastricht University, PO Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, Netherlands; marcus.huibershag.unimaas.nl
- Accepted 5 September 2003
Abstract
Aim: To determine the prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)-like caseness in the working population.
Methods: Using data from the prospective Maastricht Cohort Study on Fatigue at Work, the prevalence and incidence of CFS-like cases (employees meeting research criteria for CFS) were determined among 5499 employees who responded to the follow up assessment 3 years and 8 months after baseline.
Results: Of the 5499 employees, 199 (3.6%) were identified as CFS-like cases. By deleting possible CFS-like cases at baseline, the annual incidence of CFS-like caseness was estimated to be 85 per 10 000. Twenty employees (0.36%) reported having been diagnosed with CFS by a physician.
Conclusions: The prevalence of CFS-like cases (3.6%) was considerably higher than the prevalence of CFS reported in previous studies (0.006–3%). These findings suggest that the CFS-like caseness may be underdetected in the working population and perhaps in other populations as well.
