title: Chronic fatigue syndrome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic fatigue syndrome 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 overview, aiming to answer the following clinical question: What are the effects of selected treatments for chronic fatigue syndrome? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and other important databases up to November 2013 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically; please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review).
  
  
  RESULTS
  At this update, searching of electronic databases retrieved 169 studies. After deduplication and removal of conference abstracts, 86 records were screened for inclusion in the overview. Appraisal of titles and abstracts led to the exclusion of 71 studies and the further review of 15 full publications. Of the 15 full articles evaluated, two systematic reviews, one RCT, and one further follow-up report of an RCT were added at this update. We performed a GRADE evaluation for 23 PICO combinations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this systematic overview, we categorised the effectiveness of four interventions based on information relating to the effectiveness and safety of antidepressants, cognitive behavioural therapy, corticosteroids, and graded exercise therapy.
authors.affiliation: King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Centre for Affective Disorders, Department of Psychological Medicine, London, UK.
authors.forename: Anthony J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Cleare
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.forename: Trudie
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chalder
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hotopf
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wessely
mesh_terms: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000592:standards*; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000592:standards*; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D000928:Antidepressive Agents