# functional status



## trbell (Nov 1, 2000)

Psychological correlates of functional status in chronic fatiguesyndrome.Journal: J Psychosom Res 2002 Dec;53(6):1097-1106Authors: Taillefer SS, Kirmayer LJ, Robbins JM, Lasry JC.Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Universite de Montreal, CanadaNLM Citation: PMID: 12479992BACKGROUND: The present study was designed to test a cognitive model ofimpairment in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in which disability is afunction of severity of fatigue and depressive symptoms, generalizedsomatic symptom attributions and generalized illness worry.METHODS: We compared 45 CFS and 40 multiple sclerosis (MS) outpatients onmeasures of functional ability, fatigue severity, depressive symptoms,somatic symptom attribution and illness worry.RESULTS: The results confirmed previous findings of lower levels offunctional status and greater fatigue among CFS patients compared to agroup of patients with MS. Fatigue severity was found to be a significantpredictor of physical functioning but not of psychosocial functioning inboth groups. In CFS, when level of fatigue was controlled, making moresomatic attributions was associated with worse physical functioning, andboth illness worry and depressive symptoms were associated with worsepsychosocial functioning.CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the role of depression and illnesscognitions in disability in CFS sufferers. Different cognitive factorsaccount for physical and psychosocial disability in CFS and MS. The SF-36may be sensitive to symptom attributions, suggesting caution in itsinterpretation when used with patients with ill-defined medicalconditions. --------------------------------------------- Co-Cure Web Site: http://www.co-cure.org/ Send posts to mailto:CO-CURE###listserv.nodak.edu Join or leave the list at http://www.co-cure.org/sub.htm Co-Cure is not a discussion list. Please do not reply to the list. ---------------------------------------------tom


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