Associated factors and assessment of clinical symptoms including fatigue, insomnia, and gastrointestinal discomfort of chronic fatigue syndrome: a cross-sectional case-control study

BACKGROUND: Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is an often overlooked and debilitating multisystem disorder. Furthermore, the risk factors and pathophysiology of this disease remain unknown. This study aimed to assess risk factors for CFS by investigating the relationships between fatigue, sleep quality, and gastrointestinal symptoms in CFS patients, and to explore the possible pathophysiology of CFS. METHODS: This is a prospective study conducted at the Health Check-up Center of Shanghai Shuguang Hospital. A total of 1,821 participants were included, with 956 in the case group and 865 in the control group. We performed a multidimensional assessment by evaluating various clinical symptoms, including multidimensional fatigue, insomnia, and gastrointestinal discomfort. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess risk factors for CFS, including general biological, lifestyle, psychological, and social factors. RESULTS: An MFI-20 assessment revealed that the CFS group reported all aspects of fatigue twice as severe as those of the HC group, including more severe general fatigue [13.12 (12.95–13.30) vs 8.76 (8.55–8.96)], physical fatigue [12.91 (12.70–13.13) vs 7.94 (7.73–8.14)], reduced activity [12.88 (12.65–13.11) vs 7.71 (7.51–7.91)], reduced motivation [12.75 (12.52–12.97) vs 7.86 (7.65–8.07)], and mental fatigue [12.78 (12.56–13.00) vs 7.82 (7.62–8.02)] (p-values all