Baraniuk et al used ancillary symptoms to help classify patients being evaluated for the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The authors are from Georgetown University, University of Pennsylvania, Norwalk Hospital and the University of South Florida.
The key symptom is fatigue.
Other ancillary symptoms
(1) problems with memory or concentration
(2) sore throat
(3) tender lymph node regions
(4) myalgia
(5) arthralgia
(6) headaches
(7) sleep disturbances
(8) exertional exhaustion
A patient with CFS has fatigue and >= 4 of the symptoms.
For this study the authors graded each symptom from 0 to 4.
Severity
Points
none
0
trivial (minimal)
1
mild
2
moderate
3
severe
4
total score for ancillary findings = Sum8 =
= SUM(points for all 8 symptoms).
Interpretation:
• minimum sum8 score: 0
• maximum sum8 score: 32
• A patient is termed fatigued if the fatigue points are >= 3.
• A significant sum8 score was >= 14.
Fatigue
Sum8 Score
Designation
<= 2
<= 13
healthy control
<= 2
>= 14
CFS-like with insufficient fatigue (CFSLWIFS)
>= 3
<= 13
chronic idiopathic fatigue (CIF)
>= 3
>= 14
chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)
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