Garralda, M Elena · Acta neuropsychiatrica · 2002 · DOI
This review examined how doctors can help children with unexplained medical symptoms, including chronic fatigue syndrome. The authors looked at different treatment approaches, particularly psychological and behavioral therapies, and found that many children improved with these methods. However, they note that more rigorous research is needed to confirm which treatments work best.
Understanding psychiatric and behavioral management approaches for medically unexplained symptoms is relevant to ME/CFS care, as some children experience functional impairment and psychological comorbidities. This review evaluates which therapeutic strategies have evidence and which require validation, informing patient discussions about treatment options and research priorities.
This narrative review does not establish causation or prove that psychiatric interventions are universally effective for all patients with ME/CFS-like illnesses. The review synthesis is not a systematic or meta-analytic assessment, and the authors themselves note that clinical guidelines lack empiric validation, meaning benefit claims are based on clinical observation rather than controlled evidence.
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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