Chronic fatigue syndrome of childhood. Comparative study with emotional disorders.

OBJECTIVE

To examine clinical specificity in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) of childhood, by comparing clinical features in childhood CFS and in emotional disorders (ED). METHOD SAMPLE: 28 children with CFS; 27 with ED.

MEASURES

History of disorder; K-SADS psychiatric interviews; self-esteem and physical symptoms questionnaires; premorbid history, behavioural and personality assessments.

RESULTS

There were high levels of comorbid emotional disorders in children with CFS, and the two groups were comparable on self-esteem, but CFS children endorsed more fatigue and other somatic symptoms. The two groups were comparable on age at illness onset, but parents of children with CSF reported more biological illness precipitants, more pre-morbid recurrent medical problems and infections. The CFS group had fewer pre-morbid psychological problems and less psychiatric comorbidity than the ED group.

CONCLUSION

There is considerable clinical overlap between CFS and ED of childhood, but there are also differences in clinical presentation between these disorders.