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Comment
. 2022 Jun;27(7):1783-1789.
doi: 10.1177/13591053211008203. Epub 2021 Apr 10.

Response to Adamson et al. (2020): 'Cognitive behavioural therapy for chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome: Outcomes from a specialist clinic in the UK'

Brian M Hughes  1 , David Tuller  2
Affiliations
Comment

Response to Adamson et al. (2020): 'Cognitive behavioural therapy for chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome: Outcomes from a specialist clinic in the UK'

Brian M Hughes et al. J Health Psychol. 2022 Jun.

Abstract

In a paper published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Adamson et al. (2020) interpret data as showing that cognitive behavioural therapy leads to improvement in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and chronic fatigue. Their research is undermined by several methodological limitations, including: (a) sampling ambiguity; (b) weak measurement; (c) survivor bias; (d) missing data and (e) lack of a control group. Unacknowledged sample attrition renders statements in the published Abstract misleading with regard to points of fact. That the paper was approved by peer reviewers and editors illustrates how non-rigorous editorial processes contribute to systematic publication bias.

Keywords: chronic fatigue syndrome; cognitive behaviour therapy; health care systems; methodology; quantitative methods.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Support for DT’s position at the Center for Global Public Health is crowdfunded through donations to the University of California, Berkeley, many of them from patients with ME/CFS.

Comment on

References

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