4/ 10Fails
Comparison of adaptive pacing therapy, cognitive behaviour therapy, graded exercise therapy, and specialist medical care for chronic fatigue syndrome (PACE): a randomised trial
White PD, Goldsmith KA, Johnson AL, et al. · The Lancet · 2011
A large, well-run trial whose gains rest on questionnaires filled in by patients who knew their treatment, while fitness, work and benefits did not improve; it cannot show that talking therapy or graded exercise changed the illness rather than how it was reported.
Main outcomes self-rated by unblinded patientsFitness, work and benefits did not improveLarge, properly randomised, very few dropouts