Jones, James F, Maloney, Elizabeth M, Boneva, Roumiana S et al. · BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2007 · DOI
This study looked at how many people with ME/CFS and similar fatiguing illnesses use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies like massage, chiropractic care, prayer, and other non-conventional treatments. Researchers surveyed over 880 people across the United States and found that people with ME/CFS-like illness were more likely to use body-based therapies (like massage and chiropractic) and mind-body therapies than people without fatigue.
This study provides epidemiological data on CAM utilization patterns in ME/CFS populations, which is important for understanding patient healthcare-seeking behaviors and informing provider education. The findings highlight that body-based and mind-body therapies are particularly common in ME/CFS, suggesting these should be evaluated in clinical research and discussed with patients.
This study does not prove that CAM therapies cause poor health outcomes or vice versa—the association between CAM use and worse physical/mental health scores likely reflects that sicker patients seek more treatments. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causality, and the small CFS-like illness sample (n=49) may not represent the full ME/CFS population.
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
Jones, James F, Maloney, Elizabeth M, Boneva, Roumiana S, Jones, Ann-Britt, & Reeves, William C (2007). Complementary and alternative medical therapy utilization by people with chronic fatiguing illnesses in the United States.. BMC complementary and alternative medicine. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6882-7-12
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-jones-2007-complementary-alternative,
author = {Jones, James F and Maloney, Elizabeth M and Boneva, Roumiana S and Jones, Ann-Britt and Reeves, William C},
title = {Complementary and alternative medical therapy utilization by people with chronic fatiguing illnesses in the United States.},
journal = {BMC complementary and alternative medicine},
year = {2007},
doi = {10.1186/1472-6882-7-12},
note = {PubMed: 17459162},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/jones-2007-complementary-alternative},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/jones-2007-complementary-alternative
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