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  • Title: Chronic fatigue syndrome in adolescents: a follow-up study.
    Author: Gill AC, Dosen A, Ziegler JB.
    Journal: Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med; 2004 Mar; 158(3):225-9. PubMed ID: 14993080.
    Abstract:
    OBJECTIVES: To compare the frequency of persistent symptoms up to 8 years after illness onset in adolescents diagnosed as having chronic fatigue syndrome, idiopathic chronic fatigue, and unexplained fatigue for less than 6 months, and to determine if hospital admission is associated with outcome. DESIGN: A cohort study using questionnaire follow-up. SETTING: A tertiary referral hospital. PATIENTS: Consecutive adolescents referred for assessment of persistent fatigue were identified and retrospectively divided into 3 groups according to the diagnostic criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome and idiopathic chronic fatigue. INTERVENTION: A questionnaire was designed and administered by telephone at a mean of 4.57 years after the initial examination. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The persistence of self-reported symptoms was compared with respect to patient group and admission. RESULTS: Outcome data were obtained for 34 (69%) of the 49 eligible subjects. Twenty-five percent of the chronic fatigue syndrome group showed near to complete improvement, 31% showed partial improvement, and 44% showed no improvement. The idiopathic chronic fatigue group had near to complete recovery in 50%, partial in 10%, and no improvement in 40%. Those with unexplained fatigue for less than 6 months had all recovered. There was no difference between the outcome of the subjects admitted to the hospital and those managed as outpatients. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents with less than 6 months of fatigue have a good outcome. Unexplained fatigue lasting more than 6 months has a similar outcome regardless of the presence of minor criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome.
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