Anderson, Emma, Parslow, Roxanne, Hollingworth, William et al. · Journal of medical Internet research · 2020 · DOI
This study tested whether teenagers with ME/CFS could successfully receive specialist treatment through the internet instead of traveling to hospitals. Researchers recruited 89 young people across the UK and offered them two types of online treatment: a cognitive behavioral therapy program with messaging support from a psychologist, or activity management sessions over Skype with a physiotherapist. Most participants completed the study and found the online treatment acceptable, showing that remote delivery of ME/CFS care is workable.
Most UK adolescents with ME/CFS lack access to local specialist services, and this study demonstrates that internet-delivered treatment is a feasible alternative that could significantly expand access to care. The findings support the viability of remote specialist services for a population that is often disabled and geographically dispersed. This work provides evidence for service expansion and offers a potential model for other countries with similar access barriers.
This pilot study does not demonstrate that internet-delivered treatment is more effective than in-person care—it only shows feasibility and acceptability. The 59.3% recruitment rate suggests selection bias and self-selection effects that limit generalizability. The study does not establish which components of treatment are responsible for any clinical improvements, nor does it compare outcomes between the two active interventions.
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
Anderson, Emma, Parslow, Roxanne, Hollingworth, William, Mills, Nicola, Beasant, Lucy, Gaunt, Daisy, et al. (2020). Recruiting Adolescents With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis to Internet-Delivered Therapy: Internal Pilot Within a Randomized Controlled Trial.. Journal of medical Internet research. https://doi.org/10.2196/17768
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-anderson-2020-recruiting-adolescents,
author = {Anderson, Emma and Parslow, Roxanne and Hollingworth, William and Mills, Nicola and Beasant, Lucy and Gaunt, Daisy and Metcalfe, Chris and Kessler, David and Macleod, John and Pywell, Susan and Pitts, Kieren and Price, Simon and Stallard, Paul and Knoop, Hans and Van de Putte, Elise and Nijhof, Sanne and Bleijenberg, Gijs and Crawley, Esther},
title = {Recruiting Adolescents With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis to Internet-Delivered Therapy: Internal Pilot Within a Randomized Controlled Trial.},
journal = {Journal of medical Internet research},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.2196/17768},
note = {PubMed: 32784188},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/anderson-2020-recruiting-adolescents},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/anderson-2020-recruiting-adolescents
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