{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,28]],"date-time":"2026-07-28T20:28:38Z","timestamp":1785270518628,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,14]],"date-time":"2025-02-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1739491200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME\/CFS) a chronic, disabling illness with no established etiopathology. It has been indicated in some population-based studies that Black and ethnic minority populations are underdiagnosed with ME\/CFS. The aims of the present study were to (1) identify the agreement between receiving an ME\/CFS diagnosis and meeting diagnostic criteria, (2) identify the demographic characteristics associated with receiving a diagnosis, and (3) explore patient satisfaction with healthcare. Self-reported medical history and symptoms were collected via online survey from respondents with and without fatigue. The agreement between self-reporting an ME\/CFS diagnosis and meeting the Center for Disease Control\u2019s (CDC) ME\/CFS criteria or Institute of Medicine (IOM) criteria was assessed with Cohen\u2019s kappa. Patient characteristics predicting a physician diagnosis were analyzed with logistic regression. Associations between diagnosis, demographics, and healthcare satisfaction were assessed with chi-square tests of independence. There were 1110 responses. The agreement between meeting ME\/CFS criteria and reporting an ME\/CFS diagnosis was fair (CDC: \u03ba = 0.29; SE = 0.02; IOM: \u03ba = 0.28, SE = 0.03). White respondents had 2.94 greater odds of being diagnosed with ME\/CFS than non-White respondents. Having an ME\/CFS diagnosis was associated with dissatisfaction with healthcare (\u03c72 (3, N = 1063) = 14.17, p = 0.003). The findings suggest racial disparities in the diagnostic processes for ME\/CFS.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph22020280","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,14]],"date-time":"2025-02-14T04:48:51Z","timestamp":1739508531000},"page":"280","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Possible Racial Disparities in the Diagnosis of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis\/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME\/CFS)"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7288-8235","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chloe Lisette","family":"Jones","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1300 University Blvd, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jarred","family":"Younger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1300 University Blvd, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103484","DOI":"10.1016\/j.autrev.2023.103484","article-title":"Brain-regional characteristics and neuroinflammation in ME\/CFS patients from neuroimaging: A systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"23","author":"Lee","year":"2024","journal-title":"Autoimmun. 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