Key messages from scientific research that's ready to be acted on
Got It, Hide thisLarun L, Brurberg KG, Odgaard-Jensen J, et al. Exercise therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016 Feb 7;2:CD003200.
In people who have chronic fatigue syndrome, does exercise improve their symptoms?
People with chronic fatigue syndrome have ongoing extreme tiredness that can't be explained by other underlying illness. Other symptoms include muscle pain, sleep problems, headaches, and difficulty concentrating or remembering things. Treatment is generally aimed at improving symptoms.
8 studies (randomized controlled trials) were published up to May 2014.
The studies included 1518 adults, mostly women, who were, on average 33 to 45 years of age.
All people in the studies had a doctor’s diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome. Specifically, they had fatigue that was unexplained by any other illness, was severe enough to cause disability or distress, and had lasted for at least 6 months.
Most of the studies compared the effects of exercise therapy with control (usual treatment, relaxation techniques, or stretching). Exercise therapy usually involved some type of aerobic exercise, such as walking, swimming, cycling, or dancing. Exercise therapy and control lasted about 3 to 6 months.
Compared with control, exercise therapy:
In people who have chronic fatigue syndrome, exercise improves fatigue, sleep, function, and self-rated overall health at the end of treatment
Effects of exercise therapy vs control | Number of trials and people | Quality of the evidence |
Fatigue scores were reduced by 1.5 to 4 points out of 33 at the end of exercise therapy | 3 studies (540 people) | Moderate |
Fatigue scores were reduced by 3 to 10 points out of 42 at the end of exercise therapy | 3 studies (152 people) | Moderate |
Sleep quality was improved by 0 to 3 points out of 20 at the end of exercise therapy | 2 studies (323 people) | Low |
Physical function was improved by 2 to 24 points out of 100 at the end of exercise therapy | 5 studies (575 people) | Low |
18 more people out of 100 said that their overall health improved at the end of exercise therapy | 4 studies (489 people) | Moderate |
Exercise therapy did not differ from control for serious adverse effects (about 1 out of 100 people in each group)* | 1 study (319 people) | Moderate |