Keurulainen, Meeri, Holma, Juha, Wallenius, Elina et al. · Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2023 · DOI
Researchers studied how a 16-week group therapy program helped 10 ME/CFS patients manage their condition better. Participants attended sessions with a psychologist and other patients dealing with the same illness, learning new ways to think about and cope with their symptoms. Most people found the program helpful and reported feeling more in control of their illness, without experiencing harm from it.
This study provides patient-centered evidence that psychological group interventions can support ME/CFS management without causing harm—an important finding given concerns about certain treatments in this population. It emphasizes the value of peer support and professional guidance tailored to patients' actual needs, informing better-designed rehabilitation programs.
This study does not prove the intervention caused observed improvements, as there is no control group for comparison. It also does not establish whether improvements persist long-term beyond the 3-month follow-up, or whether the intervention works equally well for all ME/CFS patients with different severity levels or presentations.
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
Keurulainen, Meeri, Holma, Juha, Wallenius, Elina, Pänkäläinen, Mikko, Hintikka, Jukka, & Partinen, Markku (2023). 'I became more aware of my actions'-A qualitative longitudinal study of a health psychological group intervention for patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.. Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy. https://doi.org/10.1111/hex.13833
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-keurulainen-2023-became-more,
author = {Keurulainen, Meeri and Holma, Juha and Wallenius, Elina and Pänkäläinen, Mikko and Hintikka, Jukka and Partinen, Markku},
title = {'I became more aware of my actions'-A qualitative longitudinal study of a health psychological group intervention for patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy},
year = {2023},
doi = {10.1111/hex.13833},
note = {PubMed: 37528544},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/keurulainen-2023-became-more},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/keurulainen-2023-became-more
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