Cognitive behavioural therapy for reducing fatigue in post-polio syndrome and in facioscapulohumeral dystrophy: A comparison
Fieke S. Koopman, Merel A. Brehm, Anita Beelen, Nicole Voet, Gijs Bleijenberg, Alexander Geurts, Frans Nollet
Department of Rehabilitation , Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, PO 22660, 1100 DD Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: s.koopman@amc.uva.nl
DOI: 10.2340/16501977-2247
Lay Abstract
Post-polio syndrome (PPS) and facioscapulohumeral dystrophy (FSHD) are two different neuromuscular disorders. Fatigue is a frequent complaint in both disorders. A recent study showed that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which is a type of psychotherapy that helps patients to identify and reshape thoughts and behavior patterns that contribute to the fatigue was effective in alleviating fatigue in FSHD but not in PPS. In this study we investigated whether this difference in effectiveness might be explained by dissimilar fatigue-related thoughts (for example focusing on fatigue) in both conditions. We used questionnaires to measure the fatigue-related thoughts in 21 patients with PPS and 24 patients with FSHD . It appeared that fatigue-related thoughts in PPS were similar to those in FSHD and thus do not explain the difference in effectiveness of CBT.
Supplementary content