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Dimensions and Assessment of Fatigue

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Fatigue Science for Human Health

Abstract

In this chapter, we first review the sources of diagnostic unreliability, otherwise known as variance, which lead to disagreement among clinicians regarding diagnostic decisions. We then review issues related to the assessment of fatigue. We conclude that basic data on scale reliability are often missing, few studies provide information about the cut-off scores that identify clinical cases, and there are few direct comparisons of existing fatigue scales. Fatigue scales used in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) studies should have been diagnostically validated in CFS and depression samples, and should represent several factorally distinct dimensions of fatigue. In addition, fatigue scales need to give an accurate assessment of the severe fatigue that is characteristically observed among people with CFS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Community Research, DePaul University, 990 West Fullerton, Suite 3100, Chicago, IL, 60614, USA

    Leonard A. Jason & Michelle Choi

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  1. Leonard A. Jason
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  2. Michelle Choi
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Imaging Research Program, RIKEN, 6-7-3 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, 650-0047, Japan

    Yasuyoshi Watanabe M.D., Ph.D. (Program Director and Professor) (Program Director and Professor)

  2. Department of Physiology, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-4-3 Asahi-machi, Abeno-ku, Osaka, 545-8585, Japan

    Yasuyoshi Watanabe M.D., Ph.D. (Program Director and Professor) (Program Director and Professor)

  3. Division of Clinical Microbiology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet at Karolinska, University Hospital Huddinge, SE-141 86, Stockholm, Sweden

    Birgitta Evengård M.D. (Professor, Senior Consultant) (Professor, Senior Consultant)

  4. Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Clinical Microbiology, Umeå University, SE-901 85, Umeå, Sweden

    Birgitta Evengård M.D. (Professor, Senior Consultant) (Professor, Senior Consultant)

  5. New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry, Newark, NJ, 07103, USA

    Benjamin H. Natelson M.D. (Professor of Neurosciences) (Professor of Neurosciences)

  6. Center for Community Research, DePaul University, 990 West Fullerton, Suite 3100, Chicago, IL, 60614, USA

    Leonard A. Jason Ph.D. (Professor and Director) (Professor and Director)

  7. Department of Health Science, Faculty of Health Science for Welfare, Kansai University of Welfare Sciences, 3-11-1 Asahigaoka, Kashiwara, Osaka, 582-0026, Japan

    Hirohiko Kuratsune M.D., Ph.D. (Professor) (Professor)

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Jason, L.A., Choi, M. (2008). Dimensions and Assessment of Fatigue. In: Watanabe, Y., Evengård, B., Natelson, B.H., Jason, L.A., Kuratsune, H. (eds) Fatigue Science for Human Health. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-73464-2_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-73464-2_1

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Tokyo

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  • Online ISBN: 978-4-431-73464-2

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