Medical References

Diagnostic Criteria

Many diverse diagnostic criteria are used by GPs and Health Care Workers to determine if a patient meets a specific criteria for diagnosing ME. This causes confusion, due to an evolution of different criteria over time, and disagreement between nations on which criteria is correct. This can lead to a patient being diagnosed as having ME in one country, but not meeting the criteria in a country where criteria are more strict.

Reference site links with criteria explanations and comparisons

Institute of Medicine (IOM) / National Academy of Medicine Criteria (2015)

International Consensus Criteria (2011)

Canadian Clinical Criteria (2003)

  • Summary Document: The Canadian Consensus Document on ME/CFS
  • “The findings do suggest that the Canadian criteria point to the potential utility in designating post exertional malaise and fatigue, sleep dysfunction, pain, clinical neurocognitive, and clinical autonomic/neuro immunoendocrine symptoms as major criteria.”

Note: The two sets of criteria below are no longer considered suitable for diagnosis of ME or for study / trial entry criteria, as they don’t mandate Post Exertional Malaise as a symptom, which is the hallmark symptom for ME. Without PEM, cases patients suffering from conditions such as chronic fatigue caused by chronic depressive illness can be misdiagnosed as having ME.

CDC (Fukuda) Criteria (1994)

Oxford Criteria (1991)

Guidelines

Myalgic encephalomyelitis (or encephalopathy)/chronic fatigue syndrome: diagnosis and management

Physiotherapy

Gaslighting