The association of fatigue and pain with cognitive test performance in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome

IF 3.3 2区医学 Q2 PSYCHIATRY

Journal of Psychosomatic Research Pub Date : 2025-10-03 DOI:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2025.112401

Joukje M. Oosterman , Marieke van der Schaaf , Willemien P.E. de Kleijn , Tanja A. Kuut , Inti A. Brazil , Hans Knoop

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objectives

Patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) typically perform worse on cognitive tasks compared to controls. The present study explored the independent associations of fatigue and pain symptoms with cognitive performance in a large sample of patients who met CDC criteria of CFS (n = 1375), of whom most also met NICE/ IOM criteria (n = 1072). Moreover, we tested the hypothesis that these associations become stronger with older age and longer symptom duration.

Methods

Questionnaires and diaries were employed assessing fatigue and pain severity, together with the impact of health problems on daily life (using the SF-36 ‘Physical Functioning’ and ‘Bodily Pain’ subscales). Cognitive outcomes consisted of speeded performance measures, namely the Symbol Digit Test, motor speed, simple and choice reaction time (RT), and response inhibition. Categorical regression with lasso penalization was employed to identify relevant correlates of cognitive performance.

Results

Fatigue severity remained as only correlate of response inhibition. For the other cognitive outcomes, fatigue severity consistently emerged together with contributions of pain severity, bodily pain and/or physical functioning. Restricting these analyses to those patients meeting NICE/IOM criteria revealed overall similar results. Age, not symptom duration, moderated several relationships, showing more pronounced associations between cognitive performance and pain severity, physical functioning, and bodily pain with older age.

Conclusions

This study highlights that a multidimensional nature of symptoms, including fatigue and pain severity, and the impact on daily-life functioning, relate to lower cognitive performance in patients with ME/CFS. Studies are needed to identify the direction and potential causality of these associations.

查看原文本刊更多论文

肌痛性脑脊髓炎/慢性疲劳综合征患者的疲劳和疼痛与认知测试表现的关系

与对照组相比，肌痛性脑脊髓炎/慢性疲劳综合征（ME/CFS）患者在认知任务中的表现通常更差。本研究在符合CDC CFS标准的大样本患者（n = 1375）中探索了疲劳和疼痛症状与认知表现的独立关联，其中大多数患者也符合NICE/ IOM标准（n = 1072）。此外，我们检验了这些关联随着年龄的增长和症状持续时间的延长而变得更强的假设。方法采用问卷调查和日记评估疲劳和疼痛的严重程度，以及健康问题对日常生活的影响（使用SF-36“身体功能”和“身体疼痛”分量表）。认知结果包括速度表现测量，即符号数字测试，运动速度，简单和选择反应时间（RT）和反应抑制。采用套索惩罚的分类回归来确定认知表现的相关因素。结果疲劳程度仍然是反应抑制的唯一相关因素。对于其他认知结果，疲劳严重程度始终与疼痛严重程度、身体疼痛和/或身体功能的贡献一起出现。将这些分析限制在符合NICE/IOM标准的患者身上，结果大致相似。年龄，而不是症状持续时间，缓和了几种关系，表现出认知表现与疼痛严重程度、身体功能和身体疼痛之间更明显的关联。结论：本研究强调，ME/CFS患者的认知能力下降与症状的多维性有关，包括疲劳和疼痛严重程度，以及对日常生活功能的影响。需要进行研究以确定这些关联的方向和潜在的因果关系。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Psychosomatic Research 医学-精神病学

CiteScore

7.40

自引率

6.40%

发文量

314

审稿时长

6.2 weeks

期刊介绍： The Journal of Psychosomatic Research is a multidisciplinary research journal covering all aspects of the relationships between psychology and medicine. The scope is broad and ranges from basic human biological and psychological research to evaluations of treatment and services. Papers will normally be concerned with illness or patients rather than studies of healthy populations. Studies concerning special populations, such as the elderly and children and adolescents, are welcome. In addition to peer-reviewed original papers, the journal publishes editorials, reviews, and other papers related to the journal''s aims.