Hoopoe
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Chris Burton, who is on the NICE panel reviewing the ME/CFS guidelines, is behind this study apparently.
Note that an earlier version used the term chronic fatigue syndrome instead of chronic fatigue.
http://www.isrctn.com/editorial/retrieveFile/6b3d6b51-92b3-4825-89a8-9060bf0da471/35773
The outcomes are all subjective of course. It's the usual clinical trial with uncontrolled bias affecting outcomes that calls itself randomized controlled trial. Although the intensity of treatment seems so low that they might struggle to obtain any results regardless.
Multiple Symptoms Study 3 is a large randomised controlled trial to test the effectiveness of a Symptoms Clinic for people with persistent “medically unexplained” physical symptoms. Persistent physical symptoms affect around 1 million people (2% of adults) in the UK. They affect patients’ quality of life and account for at least one third of referrals from GPs to specialists.
The commonest (at least among professionals and researchers) is “medically unexplained symptoms” (MUS). Some persistent physical syndromes are grouped into clusters (syndromes) such as irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue.
Note that an earlier version used the term chronic fatigue syndrome instead of chronic fatigue.
The intervention being assessed is a psychologically informed medical consultation (Symptoms Clinic) delivered by a specially trained ER-GP. The consultations include detailed medical history taking, explanation (including discussion of a ppropriate diagnosis) and advice about management. Consultations do not include physical examination unless there is a specific indication. The Symptoms Clinic involves an initial long consultation of approximately 50 minutes followed up by two or three medium length consultations of 15-20 minutes.
Patients will be individually randomised (1:1) and will be allocated to the Symptoms Clinic plus usual care or usual care alone
http://www.isrctn.com/editorial/retrieveFile/6b3d6b51-92b3-4825-89a8-9060bf0da471/35773
The outcomes are all subjective of course. It's the usual clinical trial with uncontrolled bias affecting outcomes that calls itself randomized controlled trial. Although the intensity of treatment seems so low that they might struggle to obtain any results regardless.