Objective assessment of personality disorder in chronic fatigue syndrome

This study aims to objectively assess the prevalence and nature of personality disorders in depressed and nondepressed chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients and compare this to depressed and healthy control groups.

Sixty-one patients attending a tertiary referral clinic with chronic fatigue syndrome, 40 psychiatric inpatients with depressive disorder and 45 healthy medical students completed the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R Diagnoses (SCID-II) in addition to providing routine clinical and demographic information.

Thirty-nine percent of the CFS group, 73% of the depressed group and 4% of the healthy group were diagnosed with personality disorders. Cluster C disorders were the most common in both the CFS and depressed group. The depressed CFS patients had more Cluster B personality disorders than nondepressed CFS patients. Overall for CFS patients there was no association between mood state and personality disorder.

High levels of personality disorder are found on objective assessment of CFS patients attending a teaching hospital clinic. This cannot be accounted for by comorbid depression.