Volgens Nijs en anderen kunnen specifieke cognitieve klachten geobjectiveerd worden.

Nijs en collega's onderwierpen 29 CVS-patienten en 17 gezonde proefpersonen aan

• de STROOP-test (waarbij de reactiesnelheid op drie situaties gemeten werd),
• een test om de alertheid/concentratieduur te testen (de vigilance task, PVT) en
• een test om de werking van het werkgeheugen te meten (operation span, OSPAN, task).

Door de patient gerapporteerde symptomen bleken te correleren met de test-uitslagen, met name problemen met de concentratie en het vasthouden daarvan en (selectief) reageren.

Er werden op basis van de OSPAN-test geen problemen met het werkgeheugen vastgesteld.

Er was volgens deze studie geen geen (cor)relatie tussen pijn en cognitieve symptomen.

Volgens een studie die zal verschijnten in Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Deve-

lopment is er wel een relatie tussen cognitieve problemen, fysieke fitheid en inactiviteit.

En voor die laatste twee problemen kennen we de biopsychosociale oplossing al (klik hier)...

Cognitive performance is of clinical importance,

but is unrelated to pain severity in women with chronic fatigue syndrome.

Clin Rheumatol. 2013 Jun 5. doi: 10.1007/s10067-013-2308-1.

Ickmans K, Meeus M, Kos D, Clarys P, Meersdom G, Lambrecht L, Pattyn N, Nijs J.

Abstract

In various chronic pain populations,

decreased cognitive performance is known to be related to

pain severity.

Yet, this relationship has not been investigated

in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

This study investigated

the relationship between cognitive performance and

1. pain severity,
2. level of fatigue, and
3. self-reported symptoms and health status

in women with CFS.

Examining the latter relationships is important for clinical practice,

since people with CFS are often suspected to exaggerate their symptoms.

A sample of 29 female CFS patients and 17 healthy controls aged 18 to 45 years

filled out three questionnaires

(Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey,

Checklist Individual Strength (CIS), and CFS Symptom List) and

performed three performance-based cognitive tests

(psychomotor vigilance task, Stroop task, and operation span task), respectively.

In both groups, pain severity was not associated with cognitive performance.

In CFS patients, the level of fatigue

measured with the CFS Symptom List, but not with the CIS,

was significantly correlated with sustained attention.

Self-reported mental health

was negatively correlated with all investigated cognitive domains in the CFS group.

These results provide evidence for the clinical importance of

objectively measured cognitive problems in female CFS patients.

Furthermore,

a state-like measure (CFS Symptom List)

appears to be superior over

a trait-like measure (CIS)

in representing cognitive fatigue

in people with CFS.

Finally,

the lack of a significant relationship

between cognitive performance and self-reported pain severity

suggests that

pain in CFS might be unique.

PMID: 23737111

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23737111

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10067-013-2308-1