Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Division of Medical Sciences, Mail Box 1, Centre for Cardiovascular and Lung Biology, Vascular and Inflammatory Diseases Research Unit, Dundee DD1 9SY, United Kingdom.
Pediatrics. 2010 Jun;125(6):e1324-30. doi: 10.1542/peds.2009-2644. Epub 2010 May 17.
The aim of this study was to compare self-reported and parent-reported quality of life for a group of pediatric patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)/myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and age- and gender-matched healthy control children, to determine the extent of functional and physical impairment.
The Child Health Questionnaire was completed by 25 children with CFS/ME, who were recruited throughout the United Kingdom, and by 23 age-, gender-, and Tanner scale-matched control children. In addition, patients were asked questions about the background to their illness (ie, precipitating factors), the status of their illness, and school attendance.
The median illness duration for patients was 3 years. Sixty-eight percent of the children said that their illness developed quickly, and the illness had an infectious onset for 88%. Only 1 child (4%) attended school full-time, whereas 12 (48%) attended school part-time and 8 (32%) received home tuition only. Children with CFS/ME scored significantly lower for 10 of 14 Child Health Questionnaire concepts; the lowest scores were observed for global health (scores of 21.4 and 84.1 for patients and control subjects, respectively; P < .0001) and role/social limitations attributable to physical health problems (scores of 24.9 and 100, respectively; P < .0001). Quality of life for the children with CFS/ME compared unfavorably with previously published results for pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus or asthma.
The quality of life of children with CFS/ME was profoundly reduced, compared with that of their healthy counterparts.
本研究旨在比较一组慢性疲劳综合征（CFS）/肌痛性脑脊髓炎（ME）患儿的自我报告和父母报告的生活质量，并与年龄和性别匹配的健康对照儿童进行比较，以确定其功能和身体损伤的程度。
本研究共纳入 25 名英国各地招募的 CFS/ME 患儿和 23 名年龄、性别和 Tanner 分期匹配的健康对照儿童，由他们的父母填写儿童健康问卷。此外，还询问了患儿有关疾病背景（即诱发因素）、疾病状态和上学情况的问题。
患儿的中位病程为 3 年。68%的患儿表示其疾病快速进展，88%的患儿疾病起始具有感染性。只有 1 名患儿（4%）全日制上学，12 名患儿（48%）非全日制上学，8 名患儿（32%）仅接受家庭辅导。CFS/ME 患儿在儿童健康问卷的 14 个概念中有 10 个的得分明显较低；其中全球健康得分最低（患儿和对照组分别为 21.4 和 84.1；P<0.0001），归因于身体健康问题的角色/社会受限得分最低（患儿和对照组分别为 24.9 和 100；P<0.0001）。与已发表的 1 型糖尿病或哮喘患儿相比，CFS/ME 患儿的生活质量明显较差。
与健康对照儿童相比，CFS/ME 患儿的生活质量严重下降。
