Fatigue experienced by people with cerebral palsy: a systematic review of assessment tools and decision tree

Abstract

Purpose

To conduct a systematic review of self- and proxy-report fatigue assessment tools used in studies of people with cerebral palsy (CP) of all ages, and to develop a fatigue assessment tool decision tree for clinicians and researchers.

Materials and methods

Five electronic databases (MEDLINE, PsycInfo, CINAHL, Web of Science and Cochrane) were searched to September 2021 to identify studies assessing self-reported fatigue in people with CP of any age. The assessment tools utilised were extracted and two reviewers appraised the tool characteristics, clinical utility and psychometric properties. A decision tree for selecting fatigue assessment tools was constructed.

Results

Ten assessment tools were identified across thirty-nine studies, three of which are valid and reliable for assessing fatigue severity and impact in people with CP. A four-level fatigue assessment tool decision tree was constructed. No valid and reliable tool for assessing cognitive fatigue was identified; responsiveness has not been evaluated in any tool for people with CP.

Conclusions

Physical fatigue screening and assessment tools for people with CP are available and are presented in our decision tree, however their utility as outcome measures remains unclear. Cognitive fatigue is understudied and poorly understood, further work is required in this area.

IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION

• Current measurement tools to screen and assess physical fatigue in people with cerebral palsy (CP) are valid and reliable and are presented in our 4-level decision tree to guide assessment tool selection.

• The responsiveness of these measurement tools to screen and assess physical fatigue has not been evaluated, therefore their utility as outcome measures in people with CP is unclear.

• Cognitive fatigue is understudied and poorly understood in people with CP.

• Valid and reliable tools to assess cognitive fatigue in people with CP are not available.

Keywords:

• Cerebral palsy
• fatigue
• self-report
• assessment tools
• decision tree

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [ID], upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council Centre of Research Excellence: CP-Achieve [Grant ID: APP1171758].