Schröder, Andreas, Ørnbøl, Eva, Jensen, Jens S et al. · Journal of psychosomatic research · 2017 · DOI
This study compared a structured group therapy program (called STreSS) with standard care for people with long-term physical symptoms like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. Researchers tracked costs and health improvements over 40 months and found that although the therapy cost money upfront, it eventually saved money overall because more patients were able to work and needed fewer medical services.
Understanding the long-term economic impact of behavioral treatments is crucial for ME/CFS patients and clinicians because it demonstrates that therapies can be justified not only on clinical grounds but also on economic grounds—potentially improving access and insurance coverage. This study specifically shows that initial treatment investment can lead to substantial societal savings through improved work capacity, which is a key concern for many patients with chronic fatigue conditions.
This study does not prove that cognitive-behavioral therapy is equally effective for all ME/CFS presentations or that the underlying cause of ME/CFS is primarily psychological. The study evaluated cost-effectiveness and economic outcomes in a specific European healthcare context and does not establish mechanisms of disease or whether improvements reflect biological changes versus behavioral adjustment.
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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