Disability and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

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Abstract
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) poses a difficult challenge to the medical community. Although there are at least 4 different and well-accepted operational definitions of CFS,1-4 all rely on subjective reports, and there are no objective diagnostic findings. Chronic fatigue syndrome is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a syndrome of severe, disabling physical and mental fatigue lasting for at least 6 months, exacerbated by minimal exertion, and unexplained by a conventional medical diagnosis. As such, CFS is a purely subjective condition and is a diagnosis of exclusion because no diagnostic laboratory marker or pathognomonic biopsy specimen has yet been identified.5 The prevalence of CFS is difficult to quantify owing to the lack of validated diagnostic tests and the heterogeneity of the CFS population.6 No treatment for CFS has proved to be effective at reversing the condition, although cognitive behavior therapy may provide symptomatic improvement.7