Chronic fatigue syndrome.
BACKGROUND
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) affects between 0.006% and 3% of the population depending on the criteria of definition used, with women being at higher risk than men.


METHODS
We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical question: What are the effects of treatments for chronic fatigue syndrome? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and other important databases up to September 2007 (BMJ Clinical evidence reviews are updated periodically, please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).


RESULTS
We found 45 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions.


CONCLUSIONS
In this systematic review we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: antidepressants, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), corticosteroids, dietary supplements, evening primrose oil, galantamine, graded exercise therapy, homeopathy, immunotherapy, intramuscular magnesium, oral nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, and prolonged rest.
Reid
Steven F
SF
Imperial College, St Mary's Hospital, London, UK.
Chalder
Trudie
T
Cleare
Anthony
A
Hotopf
Matthew
M
Wessely
Simon
S
D005081:Exercise Therapy; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy; D006705:Homeopathy; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D012146:Rest; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration