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Objective:To explore the role of static posturography in the assessment of fatigue due to flight tasks.Methods:Thirtymale college students were asked to perform simulated flight tasks consecutively forfour hours.Meanwhile their statie posturography and tasks performance would be repeatedly measured during the task-load at end of every hour.Based on the changed significantly parameters,the static balance index would be built by principle component analysis.Then its correlation with task-load level would be further analyzed by curve estimation.Results:Static postural control declined significantly under effect of simulated flight tasks.With task load sustaining,static balance index increased significantly and correlated linearly with duration of task load (R2=0.949).Besides,there was quadratic relationship between the change of multi-tasks performance and duration of task load (R2=0.968).And correlation of multi-tasks performance with static standing balance level also had been proved to be quadratic (R2=0.976).Conclusions:Static posturography correlated linearly with flight task-load level,which could reflect fatigue level caused by task load.
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Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of auricular point therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome.Methods Eighty patients with chronic fatigue syndrome were randomly allocated to treatment and control groups, 40 cases each. The treatment group received ear acupuncture plus auricular plaster therapy and the control group, conventional acupuncture. The overall symptom was scored, the Fatigue Assessment Instrument (FAI) score was recorded and immunoglobulins (IgA, IgG and IgM) were measured in the two groups before treatment and after four courses.Results There were statistically significant pre-/post-treatment differences in the overall symptom score, the FAI score and immunoglobulins in the two groups (P<0.05). There were statistically significant post-treatment differences in the FAI score, and IgA and IgG between the treatment and control groups (P<0.05). Conclusion Auricular point therapy is an effective way to treat chronic fatigue syndrome.
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In this paper,heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) are extracted from ECG,and the five indexes in both time and frequency domains are analyzed.The result shows that the standard deviation (SDNN) of R-R intervals,the value of total power (TP),the power value of low frequency (LF) of HRV and the value of LF/HF increase obviously,while the power value of high frequency (HF) decreases markedly after fatigue.The physical fatigue level is classified according to the rate of increase and decrease of the indexes above.It is suggested that these five ECG indexes be used to reflect and evaluate the degree of physical fatigue quantitatively.
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Trata-se de uma revisão sistemática que teve como objetivos identificar e analisar instrumentos de auto-relato exclusivos para a avaliação de fadiga em adultos, com propriedades psicométricas estabelecidas. A estratégia de busca compreendeu as bases de dados MEDLINE (1966-2003), LILACS (1982-2003), PAHO (1902-2003), WHOLIS (1948-2003) e BDEnf (1988-2003) e as palavras-chave foram as combinações do termo fadiga (fatigue) com instrumento (instrument), questionário (questionnaire), inventário (inventory), escala (scale) e avaliação (assessment). Identificaram-se 18 instrumentos. Cada um foi analisado quanto ao país de origem, ano de publicação, população alvo, motivação para construção, definição de fadiga, dimensões da fadiga, método de construção, número e graduação de magnitude dos itens, método de obtenção dos escores, ponto de corte e classificação, validade e confiabilidade, finalidade, freqüência de uso e populações em que foi utilizado. Todos os instrumentos foram oriundos de países desenvolvidos. O mais antigo foi de 1989 e o mais recente, 2002, sendo que nos últimos 5 anos, 11 foram publicados. Seis foram desenvolvidos para avaliar fadiga em pessoas com qualquer doença física ou psiquiátrica e 5 foram específicos para doentes com câncer. A definição de fadiga, embora fundamental para a construção de instrumentos, foi explicitada em apenas 6. Nove instrumentos foram unidimensionais. A dimensão mais incluída foi a intensidade (n=10), seguida da mental (n=7) e física (n=7). Onze instrumentos tinham até 15 itens e 6, até 30 itens. Quatro instrumentos tiveram finalidade discriminativa e os demais, avaliativa. Dezesseis instrumentos analisaram a confiabilidade. Desses, 15 verificaram a consistência interna calculando-se o alfa de Cronbach, que foi superior a 0,90 em 7 deles. Os testes de validade mais freqüentes foram os de validade discriminante (n= 10) e de validade convergente/divergente (n= 11), que ) mostraram valores satisfatórios. Análise fatorial, que é fundamental para a identificação de domínios, foi feita em nove instrumentos. Da análise realizada destacaram-se três instrumentos: o Fatigue Assessment Instrument, que avalia fadiga em variadas condições de doença física e mental, o Schwartz Cancer Fatigue Scale e o Cancer Fatigue Scale, específicos para doentes com câncer. Este estudo contribui para o conhecimento na área de fadiga pois a revisão sistemática feita é inédita, em âmbito internacional e nacional, e disponibiliza, para pesquisadores e clínicos, guia para a seleção dos instrumentos mais apropriados a seus propósitos assistenciais e de pesquisa
This study is a systematic review aiming to identify and to analyze self-report instruments exclusive for fatigue assessment in adults with established psychometric properties. The search strategy comprehended the MEDLINE (1966-2003), LILACS (1982-2003), PAHO (1902-2003), WHOLIS (1948-2003) and BDEnf (1988-2003) databases, using as keywords the term "fatigue" combined with "instrument, questionnaire, inventory, scale, and assessment". Eighteen instruments were identified. Each of them was analyzed as to the country of origin, year of publication, target population, motivation for constructing the scale, concept of fatigue, dimensions of fatigue, construction method of the scale, number and scaling of the items, scoring, cut-off score and classification, validity, reliability and purpose. All instruments were originated from developed countries. The oldest instrument is dated from 1989 and the most recent from 2002; eleven of them were published within the last five years. Six were developed to assess fatigue of patients with either physical or psychiatric disease, and five were specifics for patients with cancer. A definition of fatigue, though fundamental to construct an assessment instrument, was presented in only six of the papers. Nine instruments were unidimensionals. The most included dimension was intensity (n=10), followed by mental (n=7), and physical (n=7). Eleven instruments had up to 15 items, and six of the instruments had up to 30 items. Four instruments were classified as discriminative while the others were evaluative. Sixteen instruments analyzed reliability. From these, 15 verified internal consistency by calculating the Cronbach's coefficient alpha, which was higher than 0.90 in seven of them. The validity tests more frequently used were those of discriminant validity (n=10) and of convergent/divergent validity (n=11) which showed acceptable values. Nine used factorial analyzes, fundamental for domains identification. The data analyses made possible the identification of the three best instruments: the Fatigue Assessment Instrument, for fatigue assessment in patients with any physical or psychiatric disease, the Schwartz Fatigue Scale, and the Cancer Fatigue Scale, specific for patients with cancer. This systematic review contributes to the knowledge in the field of fatigue since it is original, both nationally and internationally, and suggests guidelines for researchers and clinicians in order to choose the appropriate instrument according to the purpose of the assessment