BMJ  2005;330:789-790 (2 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7494.789-b

Letter

Cognitive behaviour therapy for adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome

Data are insufficient and conclusion inappropriate

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—I have concerns about the design and interpretation of the study reported by Stulemeijer et al on cognitive behaviour therapy for adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome.1 The trial arms were not matched for the number of contacts with healthcare professionals. Experience from larger and more carefully controlled randomised interventional trials of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome has clearly shown that short term improvement in symptoms is related directly to the maintenance of regular contacts with healthcare professionals rather than the therapeutic effect of the intervention itself and consequently, the improvement is not sustained once the contact is lost.2

The authors did not offer patients in their waiting list the opportunity to meet therapists regularly for five months but without having cognitive behaviour therapy. Few follow up data on patients in the intervention arm show that the specific treatment benefit was carried forward without regular contacts with the therapists. . . . [Full text of this article]

Abhijit Chaudhuri, senior lecturer in clinical neurosciences

University of Glasgow, Institute of Neurological Sciences, Glasgow G51 4TF ac54p@udcf.gla.ac.uk


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Relevant Article

Cognitive behaviour therapy for adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome: randomised controlled trial
Maja Stulemeijer, Lieke W A M de Jong, Theo J W Fiselier, Sigrid W B Hoogveld, and Gijs Bleijenberg
BMJ 2005 330: 14. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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