Exercise beneficial for chronic fatigue syndrome

Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) generally benefit and feel less fatigued following exercise therapy, and no evidence suggests exercise therapy worsens outcomes. A positive effect with respect to sleep, physical function and self-perceived general health was observed, but no conclusions for the outcomes of pain, quality of life, anxiety, depression, drop-out rate and health service resources used were possible. The effectiveness of exercise therapy, in which exercise increments were set between trainer and patient, seems greater than that of pacing, in which patients set their own exercise increments, but similar to that of cognitive behavioural therapy. Exercise therapy lasted 12–26 weeks, and was performed 3–5 times/week, with a target duration of 5–15 minutes/session.