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Clinical trial follow-up demonstrates sustained recovery after educational graded exercise in chronic fatigue syndrome, indicating that early intervention optimizes outcomes.
BACKGROUND: An earlier trial demonstrated good outcomes after 1 year for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) who received an educational intervention designed to encourage graded activity. AIMS: To determine 2-year outcomes for the same treated patients and the response to treatment of patients formerly in the control condition. METHOD: Patients in the treatment groups (n=114) were followed up at 2 years; 32 patients from the control group were offered the intervention after 1 year and were assessed 1 year later. Assessments were the self-rated measures used in the original trial. RESULTS: At 2 years 63 of the treated patients (55%) no longer fulfilled trial criteria for CFS compared with 64 patients (56%) at 1 year. Fourteen of 30 crossover patients (47%) achieved a good outcome at 1 year and seven (23%) no longer fulfilled criteria for CFS. CONCLUSIONS: Benefits of the intervention were maintained at 2 years. Delaying treatment is associated with reduced efficacy and required more intensive therapy.
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Powell et al. (2004) studied this question.
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