Nap-van der Vlist, Merel M, Vroegindeweij, Anouk, Hoefnagels, Johanna W et al. · Journal of psychosomatic research · 2023 · DOI
Researchers created and tested a short 4-question fatigue questionnaire (pSFQ) designed specifically for teenagers ages 12-18 to quickly and accurately measure severe fatigue. They tested it on over 900 young people—both healthy teens and those with ME/CFS or other chronic illnesses—and found it works reliably and can identify severe fatigue with 94% accuracy while being 50% shorter than the original longer questionnaire.
For ME/CFS patients and clinicians, a validated short fatigue screening tool reduces assessment burden while maintaining diagnostic accuracy—particularly important given that fatigue assessment is central to ME/CFS diagnosis and monitoring. This instrument could improve clinical efficiency and allow for repeated fatigue measurement in paediatric populations without excessive questionnaire burden, supporting better clinical management and research participation.
This study establishes that the pSFQ reliably measures fatigue severity and discriminates between groups, but does not demonstrate whether the tool can track fatigue changes over time or in response to treatment (responsiveness). The study also does not establish whether this fatigue measure specifically captures ME/CFS-related fatigue distinct from other chronic disease fatigue, nor does it validate the tool in younger children below age 12.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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