Prospective Study of Body Mass Index, Weight Change, and Fatigue in Acute 
 Infectious Mononucleosis

 J of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Vol. 14, No.3, 2007, pp. 27-36

 Ellen A. Schur, Carolyn Noonan, Dedra S. Buchwald

 Objective: To examine the influence of body mass index (BMI) and weight 
 change on fatigue severity and failure to recover in individuals with 
 acute infectious mononucleosis.

 Methods: We prospectively studied 148 individuals presenting with a 
 positive monospot test. We obtained measured weights and vitality subscale 
 scores from the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) at the index visit and 
 at 6 months.

 Results: The mean age of the participants was 21 years and 24% were 
 overweight or obese. During acute illness, overweight and obese 
 participants had an adjusted odds ratio for low vitality scores of 2.9 
 (confidence interval 1.2-7.1) compared to normal weight subjects. Neither 
 index BMI nor 6-month weight gain was significantly associated with 
 prolonged fatigue or failure to recover.

 Conclusion: Overweight and obese patients with acute infectious 
 mononucleosis are more likely to experience severe fatigue. In contrast, 
 neither baseline weight nor weight gain appear to impede recovery.


 Keywords: Infectious mononucleosis, chronic fatigue, fatigue, obesity, 
 weight gain