<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><xml><records><record><source-app name="HighWire" version="7.x">Drupal-HighWire</source-app><ref-type name="Journal Article">17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Friedberg, Fred</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Leung, Debbie W</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Quick, Joyce</style></author></authors><secondary-authors></secondary-authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Do support groups help people with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia? A comparison of active and inactive members.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">The Journal of Rheumatology</style></secondary-title></titles><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2005</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2005-12-01 00:00:00</style></date></pub-dates></dates><pages><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2416-2420</style></pages><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">32</style></volume><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">12</style></issue><abstract><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">OBJECTIVE: To examine the benefits and problems of a chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia (FM) support organization as reported by its participants. METHODS: Active members (n = 32) and inactive members or dropouts (n = 135) of a regional support organization for people with CFS and FM completed a 26 item questionnaire by telephone interview or by self-completion and postal return. RESULTS: The most frequently endorsed benefits of membership were illness legitimization (67.8%), finding out helpful new information (66.4%), and feeling understood by others (62.2%). Lower frequency endorsements were given to: helped to find (35.0%) or deal with (38.5%) doctors, and helped to improve my illness (36.4%). The most frequently reported reasons for dropping out were inconvenient location (37.8%) or time (37.0%), too much negative talk or complaining (33.3%), too sick to attend (28.8%), and illness or coping improvement (29.6% each). The active-member group showed significantly higher (p &lt; 0.04) symptom severity scores and less illness improvement (p &lt; 0.01) in comparison to the inactive/dropout group. CONCLUSION: This cross-sectional study suggests that support groups for CFS are viewed as helpful by participants on a number of illness related issues. On the other hand, active members reported greater symptom severity and less illness improvement than inactive members or dropouts.</style></abstract></record></records></xml>