Ali, Sheila, Goldsmith, Kimberley, Burgess, Mary et al. · Behavioural and cognitive psychotherapy · 2017 · DOI
This study tested whether guided self-help materials could help ME/CFS patients improve their physical functioning while waiting for cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Patients filled out questionnaires at the start, just before CBT began, and after CBT ended. The self-help guidance helped improve how much patients could physically do, but didn't significantly reduce fatigue or improve social life during the waiting period. However, CBT itself did help with all three areas.
This research addresses a critical clinical challenge: long waiting lists for specialist ME/CFS treatment. The findings suggest that self-help interventions may offer a low-cost, accessible option to help patients maintain or improve function while awaiting care, potentially reducing the burden on healthcare systems and improving patient outcomes during treatment delays.
This study does not prove that self-help guidance alone is equivalent to professional CBT treatment. Without a control group, it cannot establish causation or rule out natural improvement over time. The findings apply only to patients awaiting CBT and may not generalize to all ME/CFS populations or to self-help without professional guidance.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Ali, Sheila, Goldsmith, Kimberley, Burgess, Mary, & Chalder, Trudie (2017). Guided Self-Help for Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Prior to Starting Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: a Cohort Study.. Behavioural and cognitive psychotherapy. https://doi.org/10.1017/S135246581700025X
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-ali-2017-guided-self,
author = {Ali, Sheila and Goldsmith, Kimberley and Burgess, Mary and Chalder, Trudie},
title = {Guided Self-Help for Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Prior to Starting Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: a Cohort Study.},
journal = {Behavioural and cognitive psychotherapy},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1017/S135246581700025X},
note = {PubMed: 28473005},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/ali-2017-guided-self},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-26. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/ali-2017-guided-self
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