- The condition is more common in women, those living in more rural areas, and those with lower incomes.
- Excessive fatigue brought on by ME/CFS may worsen with exertion and not improve with rest.
- Growing numbers of rural communities were associated with higher proportions of ME/CFS cases
According to recent research, adults in the United States are not uncommonly affected by chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The condition is more common in women, those living in more rural areas, and those with lower incomes.
Excessive fatigue brought on by ME/CFS may worsen with exertion and not improve with rest. The precise etiology of the illness is still unknown. An estimated 1.3% of adult Americans in 2021–2022 had ME/CFS, with a higher incidence rate among women (1.7% vs. 0.9% of men).
Chronic fatigue syndrome
ME/CFS was most common in adults 50–59, 60–69, 18–39, and 70 years of age and older. Of all racial and ethnic groups, 1.5% of adult white people, 1.2% of Black people, 0.8% of Hispanic people, and 0.7% of Asian people had ME/CFS.
With an increase in reported family income came a decrease in the likelihood of having ME/CFS. In adults whose family income was at or above 200% of the federal poverty level, the prevalence of ME/CFS was 1.1%; among those whose income was between 100% and 199% of the federal poverty level (FPL), it increased to 1.7%.
Merely 2% of adult cases of ME/CFS were among those whose family income was less than 100% of the federal poverty level.
Growing numbers of rural communities were associated with higher proportions of ME/CFS cases; 1.9% of adults in nonmetropolitan areas and 1% in large central metropolitan areas, respectively, had ME/CFS. 3.3 million adults, or 1.3% of the total, have ME/CFS; however, since the vast majority of cases go undiagnosed and there is no reliable laboratory test, the true prevalence may be higher.
