Galeoto, G, Sansoni, J, Valenti, D et al. · La Clinica terapeutica · 2018 · DOI
This review looked at four high-quality studies to understand how physical therapy might help people with ME/CFS feel less tired and function better. The researchers found that programs combining exercise, stretching, and body awareness techniques showed the most promise for reducing fatigue over medium and long-term periods. However, because there were very few studies to examine, the authors couldn't definitively say which treatment works best for everyone.
ME/CFS lacks well-established treatment guidelines, and fatigue remains the primary disabling symptom. This systematic review synthesizes the best available evidence on physiotherapy interventions, providing both patients and clinicians with a structured overview of what structured rehabilitation approaches show promise. It highlights the need for larger, well-designed trials to establish optimal treatment protocols.
This review does not prove that any single physiotherapy approach is universally superior or definitively effective for all ME/CFS patients. The small number of included studies (n=4) and acknowledged heterogeneity mean findings cannot be reliably generalized to the broader ME/CFS population. The review does not establish the optimal intensity, duration, or individualized patient characteristics that predict treatment response.
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 →
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