Risk factors of coronary artery disease (CAD) between a group of patients suffering of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and a control group of healthy persons (whose exercise activity was not health-limited) were compared. Thirty three patients (27 women, 6 men, average age 39.9 +/- 11.7 years) and the same number of controls matched in age (39.8 +/- 10.3 years), gender and body weight. The Minnesota Questionnaire (by Taylor) and the Compendium of Physical Activities (by Ainsworth) were used to estimate total energetic expenditure in exercise activity as well as in job. The risk factors of CAD in the patients with CFS were not higher than in the control group. Aerobic physical fitness, basic anthropometric data, blood pressure, spectrum of blood lipoproteins, blood uric acid and smoking habits were not different between the compared groups. Patients suffering from CFS had lower total energetic expenditure in exercise activity. Nevertheless, this significant difference in sports activity was not large enough to cause any difference in risk factors of CAD between the CFS patients and the control group.