Do patients with “pure” chronic fatigue syndrome (neurasthenia) have abnormal sleep?
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether patients with “pure” chronic fatigue syndrome (neurasthenia) have sleep abnormalities which may contribute to subjective measures of daytime fatigue. METHOD: Sleep characteristics of 20 patients meeting research criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) but not depression, anxiety, or sleep disorder were compared with sleep characteristics of 20 healthy subjects matched for age and sex. Measures of sleep included a) subjective interview reports and sleep diaries and b) home-based polysomnography. RESULTS: Patients with CFS complained of poor quality unrefreshing sleep. They also napped during the day. Polysomnograph data showed no difference in actual nocturnal sleep time between the two groups although patients with CFS spent significantly longer in bed (p < .01), slept less efficiently (p < .03), and spent longer awake after sleep onset (p < .05). The polysomnographs of seven patients with CFS and one healthy subject were regarded as significantly ab
