Mindfulness CBT shows only modest gain in fatigue and no gains in physical function vs baseline - when compared with PACE control.
btw, full text here: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for People with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cpp.793/full
In this study there was no active control group eg relaxation therapy (just waiting list), and no control group at all for 6 months follow-up, only at 2 months (as waiting list patients were getting treatment by then). Comparing MCBT at 6 months with baseline is of limited value as pre/post comparisons are considered flawed.
So, to give a more useful feel for the real gains in this study, I've compared the results for MCBT at 6 months (vs baseline) with the PACE SMC (control) group at 6 months vs baseline:
Chalder Fatigue
PACE SMC: 28.3 -> 24.0 = -4.3
MCBT : 25.4 -> 17.3 = -8.1 (-3.9 points better than PACE)
Physical Function
PACE SMC: 39.2 -> 48.4 = +9.2
MCBT :61.6 -> 70.0 = +8.4 (no different to PACE)
It is arguable that as these patients had already been through CBT and not improved, they are less likely to improve anyway (even in terms of natural course of illness). Nonetheless, a modest gain in fatigue and no gain in physical function doesn't exactly make a compelling case for a big trial of MBCT.
Mindfulness vs CBT - are they really complementary?
Both CBT and mindfulness have awareness of your own thoughts as a central part of the process. Where they differ is in how you handle the noticed thoughts. In mindfulness, you simply meet the thoughts in a non-judgemental way, with compassionate awareness 'looks like I'm fearful of..'. CBT instead aims to control and correct thoughts: 'oh, I'm catastrophising, let me look at things in a more postivie way'; judgement is a core part of the process. And I'm not sure the mindfulness approach really fits with the CBT model outlined by the authors, despite their best attempt to marry what seems to me to be largely conflicting approaches.
And mindfulnesses ongoing awareness is likely to lead to greater awareness of symptoms, wheras CBT encourages ignoring them and pressing on if the said activity is within the agreed programme. In the same scenario mindfulness would be fully aware of symptoms arising and would encourage a thoughtful response to them - neither a panic decision to stop nor a carry-on-regardless attitude.
Dislosure: Have to admit that I am a bit of a mindfulness fan myself, and find it particularly good for dealing with chronic pain. John Kabat Zinn's
Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness, which describes the first use of mindfulness in mainstream medicine, came out not long after I got ill. But as others have noted it is a coping technique (or even lifestyle) meant to improve people's feeling of wellbeing, or minimise suffering, not to improve their health.