AUTHOR=Gotaas Merethe Eide , Stiles Tore C. , Bjørngaard Johan Håkon , Borchgrevink Petter C. , Fors Egil A. 

TITLE=Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Improves Physical Function and Fatigue in Mild and Moderate Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Consecutive Randomized Controlled Trial of Standard and Short Interventions

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.580924

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2021.580924

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Objective:</bold> To study whether standard cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and a shorter, interpersonal oriented cognitive behavioral therapy (I-CBT) can improve physical function and fatigue in patients diagnosed with mild to moderate chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in a multidisciplinary fatigue clinic.</p><p><bold>Design:</bold> Consecutively 236 participants 18–62 years old meeting the Centre of Decease Control, CDC 1994 criteria, with a subsample also fulfilling the Canadian criteria for CFS, were randomly allocated to one of three groups. Two intervention groups received either 16 weeks of standard CBT or 8 weeks of I-CBT vs. a waiting-list control group (WLC). Primary outcome was the subscale Physical Function (PF) from SF-36 (0–100). Secondary outcome was amongst others fatigue measured by Chalder Fatigue Questionnaire (CFQ) (0–33). Outcomes were repeatedly measured up to 52 weeks from baseline.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> The additional effect relative to baseline at post-intervention for SF-36 physical function was 14.2 (95% CI 7.9–20.4 <italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001) points higher for standard CBT and 6.8 (0.5–13.2 <italic>p</italic> = 0.036) points higher for I-CBT compared with the control group. The additional effect relative to baseline at post-intervention for fatigue was 5.9 (95% CI 0.5–10.5 <italic>p</italic> = 0.03) points lower for standard CBT compared with the control group but did not differ substantially for I-CBT 4.8 (95% CI −0.4 to 9.9 <italic>p</italic> = 0.07). The positive change in physical function persisted at 1-year follow-up for both treatment groups, and for standard CBT also in fatigue. The two intervention groups did not differ significantly in self-reported physical function and fatigue at the 1-year follow-up. No serious adverse reactions were recorded in any of the groups during the trial period.</p><p><bold>Interpretation:</bold> A 16-week standard, individual CBT intervention improves physical function and fatigue in CFS outpatients with mild to moderate disease. A shorter 8-week I-CBT program improves physical function. Both treatments are safe, and the effect persist 1 year after baseline.</p><p><bold>Clinical Trial registration:</bold><ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">ClinicalTrials.gov</ext-link>, Identifier: NCT00920777, registered June 15, 2009.</p><p>REK-project number: 4.2008.2586, registered April 2, 2008. Funding: The Liaison Committee for Education, Research and Innovation in Central Norway.</p>