AAFP Follow Up

After the American Academy of Family Practitioners published an article on CFS in October 2012, Dr. Lucinda Bateman and I submitted a Letter to the Editor. Today, that letter was published and the full version is free online. There is also a reply from Dr. Yancey, one of the authors of the original article.

My original analysis of the article covers the methodology and the overemphasis, in my opinion, of psychological factors in CFS. In his reply, Dr. Yancey cites the PACE trial as providing evidence that CBT and GET provide “moderate benefit” to people with CFS. But since the PACE trial was published in 2011, numerous authors have documented a multitude of problems with the study design and data analysis, including this one from the CFIDS Association (pdf link).

I fear that the PACE trial will continue to dog our steps until better data are published. This is why the FDA meeting is so important, and why you should participate to the fullest extent of your ability.

 

Edited to add: Links to some other analyses of the PACE trial can be found here.

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1 Response to AAFP Follow Up

  1. Roy says:

    Thanks to both of you, although I think it would have been more appropriate for the PACE trial paper to have been published on April Fools Day.

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