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Purpose
The goal of this study was to determine whether adolescent offspring of mothers with
chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) have higher prevalence of CFS and report more fatigue,
greater pain sensitivity, more sleep problems, and poorer cardiopulmonary fitness in
comparison with offspring with no exposure to maternal CFS.
Methods
A total of 26 adolescent offspring of 20 mothers diagnosed with CFS were compared with 45
adolescent offspring of 30 age-matched healthy control mothers. Study measures included
structured interviews and medical and laboratory examinations for CFS; tender point
examination; maximum oxygen uptake and perceived exertion; dolorimetry pain ratings; and
questionnaires on fatigue severity and sleepiness.
Results
In comparison with offspring of healthy mothers, those exposed to mothers with CFS
reported higher prevalence of fatigue of at least 1-month duration (23% vs. 4%), fatigue
of 6 months or longer (15% vs. 2%), and met criteria for CFS (12% vs. 2%), although these
differences only approached statistical significance. CFS and healthy mothers differed on
almost all study outcomes, but offspring groups did not differ on measures of current
fatigue severity, pain sensitivity, sleep, mean number of tender points, and
cardiopulmonary fitness.
Conclusions
The higher prevalence of fatiguing states in offspring of CFS mothers, despite the lack of
statistical significance, suggests that familial factors may potentially play a role in
developing chronically fatiguing states. Alternately, perturbations in pain sensitivity
and cardiopulmonary fitness may be consequences of CFS. Future studies should focus on
examining the impact of maternal CFS and associated disability on psychosocial functioning
of offspring.
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