Cognitive deficits in chronic fatigue syndrome and their relationship to psychological status, symptomatology, and everyday functioning.

Cockshell, Susan J.; Mathias, Jane L.

doi:10.1037/a0032084

Cited by 38 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…Therefore, it seems patients with CFS may experience memory deficits with or without comorbid depression. Other studies have suggested that the appearance of memory difficulties in patients with CFS is the result of impairments with information processing (Cockshell and Mathias, 2013) rather than actual memory deficits.…”

Section: Cognitive Impairments In Cfsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Therefore, patients with CFS may not have difficulty with memory per se , but rather with information is presented to patients with CFS too quickly the information is unlikely to be processed. In fact, Cockshell and Mathias (2013) found that when compared to healthy controls, patients with CFS showed impaired information processing speed, yet demonstrated similar performance on tests of attention, memory, motor functioning, verbal ability, and visuospatial ability. Again, this finding demonstrates that cognitive dysfunction among patients with CFS is related to impaired information processing rather than memory difficulties.…”

Section: Cognitive Impairments In Cfsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cognitive impairments associated with CFS and POTS

Shanks¹,

Jason²,

Evans³

et al. 2013

Front. Physiol.

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Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is characterized by fatigue, sleep dysfunction, and cognitive deficits (Fukuda et al., 1994). Research surrounding cognitive functioning among patients with CFS has found difficulty with memory, attention, and information processing. A similar disorder, postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS), is characterized by increased heart rate, fatigue, and mental cloudiness (Raj et al., 2009). Potential implications of cognitive deficits for patients with CFS and/or POTS are discussed, including difficulties with school and/or employment. A few biological theories (i.e., kindling, impairments in the central nervous system, and difficulty with blood flow) have emerged as potential explanations for the cognitive deficits reported in both CFS and POTS Future research should continue to examine possible explanations for cognitive impairments in CFS and POTS, and ultimately use this information to try and reduce cognitive impairments for these patients.

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Section: Cognitive Impairments In Cfsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Cognitive Impairments In Cfsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive impairments associated with CFS and POTS

Shanks¹,

Jason²,

Evans³

et al. 2013

Front. Physiol.

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“…Memory impairment is common among patients with CFS, reported by 75 % on average (range 62–89 %) [2–4]. Self-reported attention-concentration difficulties also are common, experienced by 86.6 % of patients on average (range 67.5–100 %) [2–5]. In addition to these studies of symptom prevalence, other studies have reported symptom severity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurocognitive complaints and functional status among patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia

Schmaling

Betterton

2015

Qual Life Res

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Purpose The purpose of this study was to conduct a longitudinal examination of cognitive complaints and functional status in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) alone and those who also had fibromyalgia (CFS/FM). Methods A total of 93 patients from a tertiary care fatigue clinic were evaluated on four occasions, each 6 months apart. Each evaluation included a tender point assessment, and self-reported functional status and cognitive complaints. Results Patients with CFS/FM reported significantly worse physical functioning, more bodily pain, and more cognitive difficulties (visuo-perceptual ability and verbal memory) than patients with CFS alone. Over time, bodily pain decreased only for participants with CFS alone. Verbal memory problems were associated with more bodily pain for both patient groups, whereas visuo-perceptual problems were associated with worse functional status for patients with CFS alone. Conclusions This study adds to the literature on functional status, longitudinal course, and cognitive difficulties among patients with CFS and those with CFS and FM. The results suggest that patients with CFS/FM are more disabled, have more cognitive complaints, and improve more slowly over time than patients with CFS alone. Specific cognitive difficulties are related to worse functional status, which supports the addition of cognitive difficulties to the FM case criteria.

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“…It is very unlikely that all patients meeting specific diagnostic criteria will show abnormal results for all specific objective tests, e.g. repeated exercise tests [41,42], cognitive tests [43,44], tilt table tests [45,46], muscle power (endurance) tests [47,48], but it is essential to establish physiological and neurocognitive abnormalities in the individual patients impartially, both in clinical practice as in research studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…repeated exercise tests [41,42], cognitive tests [43,44], tilt table tests [45,46], muscle power (endurance) tests [47,48], for diagnosing patients [49] and determining the effect of interventions [50], to find correlations between symptoms/subjective measures and objective test outcomes, and to define symptomatic subgroups of the ME and CFS patient population [51].…”

Section: A New Direction: Back To the Futurementioning

confidence: 99%

An Accurate Diagnosis of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome requires strict Clinical Case definitions and Objective Test Methods

Twisk¹

2017

J Med Diagn Meth

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Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) are subject to controversy. Although ME and CFS are often considered to be to be synonymous, the case criteria for ME and CFS define two distinct diseases with partial overlap. ME, recognized as a new clinical entity in the 1950's, is characterized by distinctive muscular, neurological and autonomic symptoms. In contrast the core feature of CFS, introduced in 1988 and redefined in 1994, is chronic fatigue. Some researchers consider CFS to be equivalent to (incapacitating) chronic fatigue (CF). After the introduction of CFS, other criteria for ME, ME/CFS, CFS and CF were introduced and used in research studies, creating obfuscation and controversy. The use of various diagnostic criteria has hampered effective research into ME and CFS.Next to the various diagnostic criteria, the assessment of symptoms is almost always based on questionnaires and subjective measures, e.g. physical functioning. Due to their nature subjective measures are incomparable over time and between patients. Moreover subjective measures introduce a significant risk of bias, for example due to researcher allegiance, the Hawthorne effect, and buy-in effects. Despite the fact that ME and CFS (subtypes) lack a clear etiological explanation (yet), the symptoms can and should be assessed by objective test measures, since subjective measures are ambiguous, incomparable and introduce the risk of bias. Objective test measures can also confirm the seriousness of both ME and CFS.To resolve the diagnostic issues in research studies and clinical practice, a clear distinction between ME and CFS (not ME), based on the original criteria, is crucial.Although the use of objective test methods is more expensive and time-consuming and severe cases cannot be subjected to these tests, considering the (scientific) confusion originating from the use of subjective measures it is essential to assess the symptoms of patients objectively both in clinical practice and research settings.

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Cognitive deficits in chronic fatigue syndrome and their relationship to psychological status, symptomatology, and everyday functioning.

Cited by 38 publications

References 67 publications

Cognitive impairments associated with CFS and POTS

Cognitive impairments associated with CFS and POTS

Neurocognitive complaints and functional status among patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia

An Accurate Diagnosis of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome requires strict Clinical Case definitions and Objective Test Methods

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