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Development and Validation of a New Fatigue Scale for Fatigued Subjects With and Without Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

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Fatigue Science for Human Health

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Abstract

The objective of our study was to develop a new fatigue scale for the assessment of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) as well as people who feel they are chronically fatigued but do not meet the diagnostic criteria for CFS. A new fatigue scale was developed by one psychiatrist and two physicians who specialize in CFS. This scale consists of various psychosomatic symptoms, psychiatric symptoms, and diagnostic criteria for CFS. It was completed by 325 patients with CFS, 311 fatigue patients who did not fulfill the diagnostic criteria for CFS, 92 healthy workers, and 80 university students. The Chalder fatigue scale, the profile of mood states (POMS), the performance status (PS), which is included in the Japanese diagnostic criteria for CFS, and the visual analogue scale (VAS) for fatigue were also assessed with the agreement of patients who consulted our center from December 2004 to April 2006. Seventy-two university students also completed the questionnaire, including this new scale, the Chalder fatigue scale, and other lifestyle factors, and we reconfirmed the effectiveness of the new scale among fatigue patients with and without CFS and normal controls. There was a high degree of internal consistency in the results, and principal components analysis supported the notion of an 8-factor solution (42 items covering fatigue, anxiety and depression, loss of attention and memory, pain, overwork, autonomic imbalance, sleep problems, and infection). Only “anxiety and depression,” “pain,” and “infection” factors were able to distinguish CFS from not CFS. The sensitivity and specificity of CFS were 67.7 and 64.4, respectively, using a cut-off score of 25 points for this subscore. We concluded that the new fatigue scale used in this study was useful for differentiating CFS patients from not CFS patients and fatigued people from a healthy sample.

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Sanae Fukuda, Masao Iwase, Kouzi Yamaguti & Yasuyoshi Watanabe

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan

    Shoko Takashima, Kouzi Yamaguti & Hirohiko Kuratsune

  3. Department of Health Science, Faculty of Health Sciences for Welfare, Kansai University of Welfare Sciences, Kansai, Japan

    Hirohiko Kuratsune

Authors
  1. Sanae Fukuda
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  2. Shoko Takashima
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  3. Masao Iwase
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  4. Kouzi Yamaguti
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  5. Hirohiko Kuratsune
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  6. Yasuyoshi Watanabe
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Editor information

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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© 2008 Springer

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Fukuda, S., Takashima, S., Iwase, M., Yamaguti, K., Kuratsune, H., Watanabe, Y. (2008). Development and Validation of a New Fatigue Scale for Fatigued Subjects With and Without Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. 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_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-73464-2_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Tokyo

  • Print ISBN: 978-4-431-73463-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-4-431-73464-2

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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