Toward an understanding of different manifestations of fatigue.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine if patient narratives and interviewer reactions are specific in groups of somatic (SF) and psychogenic fatigue (PF) patients.

Methods: The interview criteria and criteria of the interviewer reaction are tested against group classification. Over a 2-year period, 51 (22 PF and 29 SF) patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria were interviewed by two trained independent interviewers.