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Acute fatigue in chronic fatigue syndrome patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 1999

A. P. SMITH ,
L. BORYSIEWICZ ,
J. POLLOCK ,
M. THOMAS ,
K. PERRY  and
M. LLEWELYN
A. P. SMITH
Affiliation:
Health Psychology Research Unit, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol; and Department of Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff
L. BORYSIEWICZ
Affiliation:
Health Psychology Research Unit, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol; and Department of Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff
J. POLLOCK
Affiliation:
Health Psychology Research Unit, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol; and Department of Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff
M. THOMAS
Affiliation:
Health Psychology Research Unit, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol; and Department of Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff
K. PERRY
Affiliation:
Health Psychology Research Unit, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol; and Department of Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff
M. LLEWELYN
Affiliation:
Health Psychology Research Unit, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol; and Department of Medicine, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff
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Abstract

Background. Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients often complain that they are more susceptible to acute mental fatigue. It is important to determine whether this is observed using objective tests of sustained attention and responding.

Methods. Sixty-seven patients who fulfilled the criteria for CFS proposed by Sharpe et al. (1991) were compared with 126 matched healthy controls. Acute fatigue was assessed by comparing performance at the start and end of a lengthy test session and by examining changes over the course of individual tasks.

Results. CFS patients showed impaired performance compared to the controls and these differences increased as the volunteers developed acute fatigue. In addition, differences between the two groups were larger at the end of the test session.

Conclusions. The present results show that CFS patients are more susceptible to acute fatigue than healthy controls. This could reflect motor fatigue or an inability to compensate for fatigue with increased effort. This profile is consistent with previous research on fatigue and suggests that interpretation of certain aspects of CFS may be helped by considering it as the end point of a continuum of fatigue rather than a distinct disease.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , March 1999 , pp. 283 - 290
Copyright
© 1999 Cambridge University Press

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