Home-based family focused rehabilitation for adolescents with severe Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, 2018, Burgess et al (inc Chalder)

Discussion in 'Psychosomatic research - ME/CFS and Long Covid' started by Andy, Aug 18, 2018.

  1. Andy

    Andy Committee Member

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    Paywalled at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1359104518794764?journalCode=ccpa
     
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  2. Hutan

    Hutan Moderator Staff Member

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    ugh

    For goodness sake, there were only 6 patients in the study. How hard would it be to say in the abstract 'three out of six showed improvements in physical functioning' and 'one (or two?) out of six showed substantial improvements in fatigue' instead of this wiffle-waffle?

    If the adolescents were severely affected as reported in the abstract and only several patients showed improvements in physical functioning, how the hell did the three who didn't show improvements in physical functioning get back to school? Are they wheeled into the classrooms and put in corners with blankets over their heads?

    I assume the return to school was part-time for most, although that is not stated.

    No, some adolescents showed improved physical functioning (and apparently social adjustment whatever that means) after a home-based rehabilitative approach [edit: and twelve months]. But there were no controls!! Correlation (in as much as you can have a correlation with six participants) is not causation.
     
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2018
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  3. Amw66

    Amw66 Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Crap in=crap out
     
  4. Trish

    Trish Moderator Staff Member

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    So a year after some home visits from a cbt therapist some of the patients had improved on some criteria. No control group. Would they have improved a bit over that time anyway? Who knows.
    This is not science.
     
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  5. Hoopoe

    Hoopoe Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Afterwards the patients flew off into the sunset on the backs of flying pigs.
     
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  6. Tom Kindlon

    Tom Kindlon Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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  7. Daisymay

    Daisymay Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    It seems journals will publish anything these days......

    Interesting to see the full paper if someone has access?

    So no GET? Or did the CBT involve some covert GET?
     
  8. Trish

    Trish Moderator Staff Member

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    That phrase 'family focused rehabilitative approach rings alarm bells to me. As soon as you hear the word rehabilitation in ME treatments it seems to mean increasing activity. The aim or rehab being to get back to full function.
     
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  9. NelliePledge

    NelliePledge Moderator Staff Member

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    @Hutan shows how good their grasp on stats is if they can get several out of 6...........

    she'll be saying they all recovered when she meant improved next o_O
     
  10. Barry

    Barry Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Does suggest the symptom severity may not have directly correlated with ME-severity.
     
  11. cyclamen

    cyclamen Established Member (Voting Rights)

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    From the study... „It is important to note that change was not linear. Individual change over time was varied, with some individuals’ fatigue levels increasing. Improvements in physical functioning and social adjustment did not necessarily match changes in fatigue. This supports previous research where adolescents who report themselves as recovered still continue to experience fatigue symptoms (Sankey, Hill, Brown, Quinn, & Fletcher, 2006). One study found that in comparison to healthy controls, adolescents with CFS had unrealistic expectations of normative levels of fatigue (Garralda & Rangel, 2001). Therefore it is possible that participants were experiencing normal levels of fatigue compared to the general population, but that their expectations of fatigue were still lower than this. The aim of the current treatment was to help adolescents to deal with normal levels of fatigue that is experienced on an everyday basis. The findings suggests that in some participants, the ability to manage and tolerate fatigue improved.“ ....

    So the fatigue in CFS is likely the normal everybody’s fatigue, just perceived wrong by adolescents with ME. :eek:
     
    Last edited: Aug 19, 2018
  12. arewenearlythereyet

    arewenearlythereyet Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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  13. Barry

    Barry Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    I have to concur with @arewenearlythereyet ...

    upload_2018-8-19_11-41-33.png
     
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  14. Trish

    Trish Moderator Staff Member

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    A double dose of tripe seems entirely appropriate, especially as I can't stand the stuff.
     
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  15. Barry

    Barry Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Ditto and ditto :).
     
  16. Barry

    Barry Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Thereby possible/probable they were not experiencing normal levels of fatigue at all. Which makes the treatment aim irresponsible at best.
     
  17. Inara

    Inara Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Yeah, @arewenearlythereyet's tripe! :rofl:

    Oh my! :laugh:

    [​IMG]
     
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  18. Sly Saint

    Sly Saint Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    and four authors!!!!
    oh my indeed...........I thought they were chammy leathers :oops:
     
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  19. Barry

    Barry Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    You got the "shammy" bit right.
     
  20. NelliePledge

    NelliePledge Moderator Staff Member

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    boom boom as Basil Brush would say ;)
     

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