Table 1 Study characteristics
Items | Adults | Adolescents | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
N. of RCT (%) | 51 (91.1) | 5 (8.9) | 56 (100.0) |
N. of participants (%) (males/females) | 6,499 (93.4) (1611/4888) | 457 (6.6) (102/355) | 6956 (100.0) (1713/5243) |
Mean N. of participants | 127.4 ± 113.3 | 91.4 ± 33.5 | 124.2 ± 109.0 |
Mean age (year)a | 40.2 ± 4.0 | 15.5 ± 0.3 | 38.7 ± 8.1 |
N. of case definitions for inclusion criteria (%)b,c | |||
 CDC 1994 (Fukuda) | 37 (72.5) | 5 (100.0) | 42 (75.0) |
 Schluederberg 1992 | 2 (3.9) | – | 2 (3.6) |
 Oxford 1991 (Sharpe) | 12 (23.5) | 1 (20.0) | 13 (23.2) |
 CDC 1988 (Holmes) | 3 (5.9) | – | 3 (5.4) |
 Lloyd 1988 | 2 (3.9) | – | 2 (3.6) |
 Others | 5 (9.8) | 1 (20.0) | 6 (10.7) |
RCTs with pharmacological intervention (N, %) | 23 (92.0) | 2 (8.0) | 25 (100.0) |
 Kinds of interventions (%) | 20 (90.9) | 2 (9.1) | 22 (100.0) |
 Mean treatment period (weeks) | 11.0 ± 7.0 | 8.5 ± 0.7 | 10.8 ± 6.8 |
RCTs with non-pharmacological intervention (N, %) | 26 (89.7) | 3 (10.3) | 29 (100.0) |
 Kinds of interventionsd | 18 (94.7) | 2 (10.5) | 19 (100.0) |
 Mean treatment period (weeks) | 17.1 ± 7.1 | 30.7 ± 15.1 | 18.5 ± 8.9 |
RCTs with combined interventions (N, %) | 2 (100.0) | – | 2 (100.0) |
 Kinds of interventions (%) | 4 (100.0) | – | 4 (100.0) |
 Mean treatment period (weeks) | 26 ± 2.8 | – | 26 ± 2.8 |
Primary measurements in 55 RCTs (n, %)c,e | |||
 Checklist Individual Strength (CIS) | 20 (35.7) | ||
 36-item Short Form health survey (SF-36) | 18 (32.1) | ||
 Sickness Impact Profile (SIP) | 8 (14.3) | ||
 Chalder Fatigue Scale | 8 (14.3) | ||
 Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) | 6 (10.7) | ||
 Clinical Global Impression (CGI) | 5 (8.9) | ||
 Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) | 3 (5.4) | ||
 School attendance rate (SAR) | 3 (5.4) | ||
 Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI) | 2 (3.6) | ||
 Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) | 2 (3.6) | ||
 Others | 21 (37.5) | ||