Morriss, R K, Wearden, A J · Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 1998 · DOI
This study tested whether two common questionnaires can reliably detect anxiety and depression in ME/CFS patients. Researchers found that the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HAD) works well for this purpose, but the Medical Outcome Survey's mental health scale produced too many false alarms and is not recommended for ME/CFS screening.
Detecting comorbid psychiatric conditions in ME/CFS is clinically important, but distinguishing them from ME/CFS symptoms is challenging. Having a validated, efficient screening tool helps clinicians identify patients who may benefit from psychiatric support without misattributing ME/CFS core symptoms to psychiatric illness.
This study does not establish whether psychiatric symptoms are caused by ME/CFS, are pre-existing conditions, or represent separate comorbidities. It also does not assess whether anxiety and depression are primary features of ME/CFS or secondary responses to chronic illness. The findings apply only to outpatient populations and may not generalize to severely affected or hospitalized patients.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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