Assessing sleep and pain among adults with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: psychometric evaluation of the PROMIS® sleep and pain short forms

Abstract:

Purpose: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the patient-reported outcome measurement information system® (PROMIS) short forms for assessing sleep disturbance, sleep-related impairment, pain interference, and pain behavior, among adults with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

Methods: Data came from the Multi-Site ME/CFS study conducted between 2012 and 2020 at seven ME/CFS specialty clinics across the USA. Baseline and follow-up data from ME/CFS and healthy control (HC) groups were used to examine ceiling/floor effects, internal consistency reliability, differential item functioning (DIF), known-groups validity, and responsiveness.

Results: A total of 945 participants completed the baseline assessment (602 ME/CFS and 338 HC) and 441 ME/CFS also completed the follow-up. The baseline mean T-scores of PROMIS sleep and pain measures ranged from 57.68 to 62.40, about one standard deviation above the national norm (T-score = 50). All four measures showed high internal consistency (ω = 0.92 to 0.97) and no substantial floor/ceiling effects. No DIF was detected by age or sex. Known-groups comparisons among ME/CFS groups with low, medium, and high functional impairment showed significant small-sized differences in scores (η2 = 0.01 to 0.05) for the two sleep measures and small-to-medium-sized differences (η2 = 0.01 to 0.15) for the two pain measures. ME/CFS participants had significantly worse scores than HC (η2 = 0.35 to 0.45) for all four measures. Given the non-interventional nature of the study, responsiveness was evaluated as sensitivity to change over time and the pain interference measure showed an acceptable sensitivity.

Conclusion: The PROMIS sleep and pain measures demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties supporting their use in ME/CFS research and clinical practice.

Source: Yang M, Keller S, Lin JS. Assessing sleep and pain among adults with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: psychometric evaluation of the PROMIS® sleep and pain short forms. Qual Life Res. 2022 Jul 27. doi: 10.1007/s11136-022-03199-8. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35896905.  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35896905/

The utility of patient-reported outcome measures among patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome

Abstract:

PURPOSE: Debilitating fatigue is a core symptom of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS); however, the utility of patient-reported symptom outcome measures of fatigue for ME/CFS patients is problematic due to ceiling effects and issues with reliability and validity. We sought to evaluate the performance of three patient-reported symptom measures in a sample of ME/CFS patients and matched controls.

METHODS: Two hundred and forty ME/CFS patients and 88 age, sex, race, and zip code matched controls participated in the study. Participants completed the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory-20, DePaul Symptom Questionnaire, and RAND SF-36.

RESULTS: The general and physical fatigue subscales on Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory-20, as well as the role of physical health on the RAND SF-36, demonstrated questionable or unacceptable internal consistency and problematic ceiling effects. The DePaul Symptom Questionnaire demonstrated excellent internal reliability, and less than 5 % of participants were at the ceiling on each subscale. The post-exertional malaise subscale on the DePaul Symptom Questionnaire demonstrated excellent clinical utility as it was able to differentiate between ME/CFS patients and controls (OR 1.23, p < .001) and predicted ceiling effects on other patient-reported outcome subscales. A score of 20 on the post-exertional malaise subscale of the DePaul Symptom Questionnaire optimally differentiated between patients and controls.

CONCLUSIONS: Significant ceiling effects and concerns with reliability and validity were observed among Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory-20 and RAND SF-36 subscales for ME/CFS patients. The DePaul Symptom Questionnaire addresses a number of concerns typically identified when using patient-reported outcome measures with ME/CFS patients; however, an improved multidimensional patient-reported outcome tool for measuring ME/CFS-related symptoms is warranted.

 

Source: Murdock KW, Wang XS, Shi Q, Cleeland CS, Fagundes CP, Vernon SD. The utility of patient-reported outcome measures among patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. Qual Life Res. 2016 Sep 6. [Epub ahead of print] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27600520

 

Assessing severity of illness and outcomes of treatment in children with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME): a systematic review of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs)

Abstract:

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) in children is characterized by persistent or recurrent debilitating fatigue which results in a substantial reduction in activity. There is a growing interest in the use of questionnaires, or patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), to assess how patients function and feel in relation to their health and associated healthcare. However, guidance for PROM selection for children with CFS/ME does not exist.

We reviewed the quality and acceptability of PROMs used with children with CFS/ME to inform recommendations for practice. We conducted a systematic review of PROMs completed by children with CFS/ME. The quality of the evaluative studies and the reviewed measures were assessed against recommended criteria using an appraisal framework and the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist. We sought evidence of measurement (reliability, validity, responsiveness, interpretability, data quality) and practical properties (acceptability, relevance, feasibility).

Sixteen articles were included in the review, providing evidence of reliability and/or validity for 13 PROMs. Of these, five were child-specific (one health-related quality-of-life; four emotional well-being) and eight were not (four emotional well-being, three fatigue-specific; and one generic). All measures had limited evidence of measurement properties and no evidence of practical properties.

Recommendations for patient-reported assessment are difficult to make because of limited evidence of the quality and acceptability of PROMs for children with CFS/ME. The appraisal method highlighted significant methodological and quality issues which must be addressed in future research. There is a lack of qualitative evidence describing the outcomes of healthcare that are important to children with CFS/ME, and the relevance or appropriateness of available measures.

Future PROM development and evaluation in this group must seek to involve children collaboratively to ensure that the outcomes that children care about are assessed in an acceptable way.

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

 

Source: Haywood KL, Collin SM, Crawley E. Assessing severity of illness and outcomes of treatment in children with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME): a systematic review of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). Child Care Health Dev. 2014 Nov;40(6):806-24. doi: 10.1111/cch.12135. Epub 2014 Mar 24. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24661148

 

Quality and acceptability of patient-reported outcome measures used in chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME): a systematic review

Abstract:

PURPOSE: To review the quality and acceptability of condition-specific, domain-specific and generic multi-item patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) used in the assessment of adults with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME).

METHODS: Systematic literature searches were made to identify PROMs. Quality and acceptability was assessed against an appraisal framework, which captured evidence of both the thoroughness and results of evaluations: evidence of measurement (reliability, validity, responsiveness, interpretability, data quality/precision) and practical properties (feasibility, patient acceptability), and the extent of active patient involvement was sought.

RESULTS: A total of 11 CFS/ME-specific, 55 domain-specific and 11 generic measures were reviewed. With the exception of the generic SF-36, all measures had mostly limited evidence of measurement and/or practical properties. Patient involvement was poorly reported and often cursory.

CONCLUSIONS: The quality and acceptability of reviewed PROMs is limited, and recommendations for patient-reported assessment are difficult. Significant methodological and quality issues in PROM development/evaluation were identified by the appraisal framework, which must be addressed in future research. Clear discrepancies exist between what is measured in research and how patients define their experience of CFS/ME. Future PROM development/evaluation must seek to involve patients more collaboratively to measure outcomes of importance using relevant and credible methods of assessment.

 

Source: Haywood KL, Staniszewska S, Chapman S. Quality and acceptability of patient-reported outcome measures used in chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME): a systematic review. Qual Life Res. 2012 Feb;21(1):35-52. doi: 10.1007/s11136-011-9921-8. Epub 2011 May 18. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21590511