Research abstract:

Background: Use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is common among patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), but whether it is viewed as more or less effective than traditional medicine is unclear.

Purpose: To explore patients’ level of functioning based on their reports of current treatments used (i.e. traditional-only, CAM-only, or a combination of both).

Methods: Participants were recruited from physician referrals and media sources (newspaper, support groups), and 97 participants were retained for this analysis. Based on self-report, individuals were divided into three groups: using CAM-only (N = 27), traditional-medicine-only (N = 22), or a combination of both treatments (N = 58).

Results: Social functioning was significant (p < .01), with post-hoc analyses indicating significantly better social functioning for individuals taking CAM-only in comparison to patients using traditional-only or a combination of traditional and CAM treatments. Significantly fewer participants (p < .01) using CAM-only had a current psychiatric diagnosis.

Conclusions: These findings suggest using CAM-only treatments in CFS is associated with higher social functioning and fewer current psychiatric diagnoses. The results support the need for research to fully evaluate how CAM may affect functioning among individuals with CFS.

Functional level of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome reporting use of alternative vs. traditional treatments, by Shelby Wise, Rachel Jantke, Abigail Brown, Kelly O’Connor & Leonard A. Jason in Fatigue: Biomedicine, Health & Behavior, Vol 3,  Issue 4, 2015, pp 235-240 [Published online: 22 Oct 2015]