{
  "abstract": "Background: Long COVID shares prominent symptoms with fibromyalgia/chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (FM/CFS/ME), but the extent of overlap and separation in patient-reported and functional burden is still unclear. We compared both groups against recovered controls.\n\nMethods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of the ARALONGCOV database in Aragon, Spain, including long COVID cases, FM/CFS/ME participants and recovered controls. We compared SF-12, Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), PHQ-9 and 6-minute walk distance using available data in each domain.\n\nResults: Both long COVID and FM/CFS/ME showed substantially worse outcomes than controls. Median SF-12 scores were 32.1 in long COVID, 20.4 in FM/CFS/ME and 87.5 in controls. Median FSS scores were 57, 61 and 6, respectively; median PSQI scores were 12, 14 and 6; median PHQ-9 scores were 12, 15 and 1; and median 6-minute walk distances were 440 m, 418 m and 541.5 m. Global between-group differences were highly significant across all domains (all p < 0.001). Compared directly with long COVID, FM/CFS/ME participants showed poorer quality of life, higher fatigue, poorer sleep, more depressive symptoms and lower exercise capacity, although both groups were markedly more impaired than controls.\n\nConclusions: Long COVID and FM/CFS/ME showed overlapping multidimensional burden, with FM/CFS/ME generally more severely affected. These findings support a comparative framework for studying shared and distinct mechanisms, while highlighting the substantial functional impact of long COVID in primary care.\n\nKey messages: • Long COVID and FM/CFS/ME showed marked overlap in multidimensional burden, with both groups far more impaired than controls.\n\n• FM/CFS/ME was generally more severely affected, supporting comparative research on shared and distinct mechanisms.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": "abstract",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "D Lerma-Irureta"
    },
    {
      "name": "R Magallón-Botaya"
    },
    {
      "name": "F Méndez-López"
    },
    {
      "name": "B Olivan-Blázquez"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dxehrnwrwzagk.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.1137",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13698294/",
  "id": "dxehrnwrwzagk",
  "issns": [
    "1101-1262",
    "1464-360X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.1137",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "6. Poster Displays"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/MED00860"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/SOC01210"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "AcademicSubjects/SOC02610"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "DB. Chronic diseases, multimorbidity and non-communicable diseases"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2728|Long-Term Effects of COVID-19"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223672642",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13698294/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13698294",
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": "Oxford University Press",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dxehrnwrwzagk.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:19:12Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13698294",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.1137"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:21:44Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13698294",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13698294"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2728|Long-Term Effects of COVID-19",
      "subfield": "neurology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Long COVID versus FM/CFS/ME: overlap and differences in patient-reported burden",
  "title_text": "Long COVID versus FM/CFS/ME: overlap and differences in patient-reported burden",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:35:11Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dxehrnwrwzagk",
  "venue": "The European Journal of Public Health",
  "versions": []
}