Internet Intervention for Teens with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Shows Promise

An interactive online program, featuring participation of both adolescents with CFS and their parents, greatly outperformed usual care.

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), a disabling condition whose causes are unclear, has no proven treatment options. Investigators in the Netherlands have now developed an Internet-based, interactive cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) program for teenagers who have CFS, with their parents participating on a parallel track. In all, 135 adolescents who met Centers for Disease Control criteria for CFS were randomized to receive either the Internet-based therapy or standard individual or group CBT.

Participants accessed the Internet program a mean of 255 times during a mean of 26 weeks. At 6 months, a significantly higher percentage of adolescents in the Internet-intervention group than in the usual-care group had achieved full school attendance (75…

Reviewing Author

F. Bruder Stapleton, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardCareer Physician

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Society of Pediatric Nephrology Foundation (Chair)

F. Bruder Stapleton, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardCareer Physician

Editorial BoardsUpToDate

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesAmerican Society of Pediatric Nephrology Foundation (Chair)