E2 ModeratePreliminaryPEM not requiredCross-SectionalPeer-reviewedMachine draft
Gross and fine motor function in fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Rasouli, Omid, Fors, Egil A, Borchgrevink, Petter Chr et al. · Journal of pain research · 2017 · DOI
Quick Summary
This study compared how quickly people with ME/CFS and fibromyalgia could start moving when they heard a sound, and how well they could do precise hand movements compared to healthy people. Both ME/CFS and fibromyalgia groups were slower to start walking in response to the sound, though their fine hand movements were similar to healthy controls. The results suggest that ME/CFS and fibromyalgia may affect the speed of starting movement, but not the precision of hand tasks.
Why It Matters
Motor dysfunction is an understudied aspect of ME/CFS that affects daily functioning. This study demonstrates measurable delays in movement initiation in ME/CFS, providing objective evidence of neuromotor impairment that may help explain difficulties with coordination and physical control reported by patients.
Observed Findings
- Both CFS and FM groups had significantly longer reaction times during gait initiation compared to healthy controls (CFS p=0.004, FM p=0.001).
- Fibromyalgia group showed numerically worse performance in both gait initiation and fine motor tasks compared to CFS, though differences between FM and CFS were not statistically significant.
- 20% of FM participants and 15% of CFS participants scored below normative thresholds on the Purdue Pegboard test, compared to 0% of healthy controls.
- No significant differences were found between FM and CFS groups in any measured parameters.
Inferred Conclusions
- Both ME/CFS and fibromyalgia impair gross motor function, particularly the speed of movement initiation.
- Fine motor control may be relatively preserved in ME/CFS and FM despite delays in gross motor reaction time.
- ME/CFS and fibromyalgia show similar motor profiles, suggesting potentially overlapping neuromotor mechanisms.
Remaining Questions
- Does motor slowing worsen after exertion or physical activity (post-exertional malaise)?
- What neural or physiological mechanisms underlie the delayed reaction time in movement initiation?
- Does the degree of motor impairment correlate with fatigue severity, symptom duration, or functional disability?
What This Study Does Not Prove
This cross-sectional study cannot establish causation or determine whether motor delays are primary neurological features or secondary consequences of fatigue and deconditioning. The study does not measure post-exertional malaise or test motor function before and after exertion, so it cannot address whether activity worsens these deficits over time.
Tags
Symptom:Fatigue
Method Flag:Weak Case DefinitionSmall SampleMixed Cohort
Metadata
- DOI
- 10.2147/JPR.S127038
- PMID
- 28223840
- Review status
- Machine draft
- Evidence level
- Single-study or moderate support from human research
- Last updated
- 8 April 2026
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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