Dimensions and assessment of fatigue

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. © 2008 Springer Japan.