BrainBlog

Morrow S, Weinstock-Guttman B, Munschauer F, Hojnacki D, & Benedict R. (2009). Subjective fatigue is not associated with cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis: cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis. Multiple Sclerosis, 15(8), :998-1005. School of Medicine, The Jacobs Neurological Institute, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, USA. Background Studies in multiple sclerosis (MS) report conflicting conclusions regarding fatigue and cognition, which may partly be due to the use of small sample sizes and frequent reliance on a cross-sectional approach. Objective The ability to distinguish between these two disabling symptoms is necessary in order to properly assess and treat MS patients. Methods In a retrospective analysis, we assessed the correlation between fatigue and neuropsychological (NP) testing using a cross-sectional (n = 465) and longitudinal approach (n = 69). Cognition was measured using a comprehensive battery called the Minimal Assessment o...

Christodoulou C, Junghaenel DU, Dewalt DA, Rothrock N, & Stone AA. Cognitive interviewing in the evaluation of fatigue items: Results from the patient-reported outcomes measurement information system (PROMIS). Quality of Life Research. 2008 Oct 12. [Epub ahead of print] Department of Neurology, HSC T12-028, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-8121. OBJECTIVES: Cognitive Interviewing (CI) is a technique increasingly used to obtain respondent feedback on potential items during questionnaire development. No standard guidelines exist by which to incorporate CI feedback in deciding to retain, revise, or eliminate potential items. We used CI in developing fatigue items for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Roadmap initiative. Our aims were to describe the CI process, formally evaluate the utility of decisions made on the basis of CI, and offer suggestions for future research. METHODS: Participants were ...

Reimer B, D'Ambrosio LA, Coughlin JF, Fried R, & Biederman J. Task-induced fatigue and collisions in adult drivers with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Traffic Inj Prev. 2007 Sep; 8(3): 290-299. AgeLab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Objective. This study compares collision involvement between adult drivers with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and control participants in a simulation experiment designed to enhance the effects of fatigue. Because the effects of ADHD include difficulties in maintaining attention, drivers with ADHD were hypothesized to be more susceptible to the effects of fatigue while driving. Methods. Data are drawn from a validated driving simulation study, portions of which were focused on enhancing the effects of fatigue. The simulator data are supplemented with written questionnaire data. Drivers with ADHD were compared with controls. Results. The self-report data indicated that drivers with...

Lam JY, Freeman MK, & Gates ME. Modafinil augmentation for residual symptoms of fatigue in patients with a partial response to antidepressants. Annals of Pharmacotherapy. 2007 Jun;41(6):1005-12. Epub 2007 May 22. University of Alabama Health System-Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the literature discussing the use of modafinil in the treatment of residual symptoms of fatigue in patients with depression. DATA SOURCES: PubMed (1966-March 2007) and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts (1970-March 2007) were searched using the key words modafinil and depression. A manual search of the reference section of the articles retrieved was conducted to identify articles not indexed in either of these sources. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: All articles published in English were evaluated. Studies were included if modafinil was used to treat patients with residual fatigue from depression and the effects were measured with validated fatigue subscales. DATA SYNTHE...