Subjective Sleep Quality and Depressive Symptoms in Patients with the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

AbstractObjectives: To evaluate subjective quality of sleep and depressive symptoms of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).Methods: Adult patients, who met the criteria for CFS, were recruited by general practitioners in the Leiden area, The Netherlands. Age and sex-matched controls were recruited. Questionnaires were handed out to 59 patients and 56 controls.Results: CFS patients had a significant higher mean score than controls on the Groningen Sleep Quality Score (GSQS) and the Zung-index, i.e., worse sleep and depression scores. In the multivariate logistic regression model, the GSQS had an OR of 1.35 per unit score (CI: 1.07-1.70), and the Zung-index had an OR of 1.21 per unit score (CI: 1.10-1.33).Conclusions: In our study, CFS patients report more subjective sleep impairment and depressive symptoms than controls but these factors appear to be independent. The fact that only a minority of the CFS patients have depressive symptoms suggests it is unlikely that depression is the cause of CFS.