Employment status in chronic fatigue syndrome. A cross-sectional study examining the value of exercise testing and self-reported measures for the assessment of employment status

Objective: To examine the value of exercise testing and self-reported disability for the assessment of employment status in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. Design: Cross-sectional observational study. Setting: A university-based chronic fatigue clinic. Subjects: Fifty-four consecutive, Flemi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical rehabilitation 2005-12, Vol.19 (8), p.895-899
Main Authors: Nijs, Jo, Van de Putte, Karen, Louckx, Fred, De Meirleir, Kenny
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Cardiac stress tests
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Correlation analysis
Cross-Sectional Studies
Data Collection
Disability
Employment
Employment status
Exercise
Exercise Test
Fatigue
Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic - diagnosis
Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic - rehabilitation
Female
Health Status
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Physical education
Physical Fitness
Physical therapy
Physically Handicapped
Physiology
Questionnaires
Self Concept
Self report
Surveys and Questionnaires
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective: To examine the value of exercise testing and self-reported disability for the assessment of employment status in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. Design: Cross-sectional observational study. Setting: A university-based chronic fatigue clinic. Subjects: Fifty-four consecutive, Flemish, employed (not self-employed) chronic fatigue syndrome patients (49/54 female). Interventions: Not applicable. Main outcome measures: Participants were questioned about their current and premorbid employment status, filled in the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Activities and Participation Questionnaire (CFS-APQ), the Medical Outcomes Short Form 36 Health Status Survey (SF-36), and performed a maximal exercise test on a bicycle ergometer with continuous monitoring of cardiorespiratory variables. Results: A significant association was observed between the current employment rate and two SF-36 subscales (i.e., role limitations due to physical functioning and social functioning; rho=0.39 and 0.35 respectively) (n = 54). Analysing only the female chronic fatigue syndrome patients (n = 49), the current employment rate correlated significantly with the peak workload (rho=0.38). Conclusions: The associations between either exercise testing or self-reported disability and employment status are too weak to predict employment status.
ISSN:0269-2155
1477-0873
DOI:10.1191/0269215505cr882oa