Can the Improvements Reported by Individuals with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Following Multi-Convergent Therapy Be Sustained in the Longer-Term: A Three-Year Follow-Up Study

Results from a small study into the efficacy of a Multi-Convergent Therapy intervention for patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) had proved encouraging at the post-therapy and six-month follow-up time points. It was, however, important to re-evaluate these findings over a longer period. Eleven patients who had completed the original therapy trial responded to a follow-up call (91.7% response rate). Subjective data was returned by between 9 and 11 of the participants and 7 completed the objective measures. Participants in the current study completed a similar set of outcome measures as those used to assess treatment success previously. These data suggested that patients attending the therapy continued to show improvements in functioning, had lower levels of fatigue and disability, improved sleep quality and levels of activity and lower symptom scores at a three-year follow-up. The long-term efficacy for this treatment is suggested by these results. Multi-convergent therapy is indicated as a promising approach to the rehabilitation of CFS patients.