Activity logs as a measure of daily activity among patients with chronic fatigue syndrome

Abstract

Background: Self-report data collected through interviews has been one of the primary ways of assessing symptoms of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). An alternative way to collect data involves activity logs, which involves patients writing down the pattern, intensity, and qualitative nature of activity over several days.

Aims: We examined the associations between activity, evaluation of activity and symptoms.

Methods: Activity log data over a 2-day period of time were used in the present study using a sample of patients with diagnosed CFS.

Results: Findings indicated that the percent of time spent feeling fatigued was positively associated with a higher percent of time in pain and doing activities that were fatiguing. However, time spent in meaningful activities was associated with less fatigue.

Conclusions: These findings and others suggest that activity logs can provide investigators and clinicians with valuable sources of data for understanding patterns of behavior and activity among patients with CFS.

Keywords:

• Activity logs
• daily activity
• chronic fatigue syndrome

Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate the financial assistance provided by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (grant numbers AI36295 and AI49720).

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.