Table 2.
Clinical characteristics and fatigue scores for the seven fatigue measurement scales in the 61 participants, and distribution of fatigue contrasts.
| Clinical characteristics | Mean (SD) or N (%) | ||
| Age, yrs | 62.1 (14.8) | ||
| Women | 52 (85%) | ||
| Disease duration, yrs | 20.2 (14.4) | ||
| HAQ (0–3) | 1.2 (0.8) | ||
| Disease activity (0–10) | 4.3 (2.3) | ||
| Pain level (0–10) | 4.3 (2.4) | ||
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| Fatigue scores | Mean (SD) | Median (range) | Normalized Mean (SD) |
| FSS | 4.7 (1.6) | 4.9 (1.3 – 6.9) | 61.5 (26.2) |
| VT | 45.9 (21.0) | 45 (0 – 100) | 54.1 (21.0) |
| MAF | 27.9 (10.3) | 29.5 (1 – 46.7) | 49.1 (23.7) |
| MFI | 60.1 (16.6) | 62 (22 – 91) | 50.1 (20.7) |
| FACIT–F | 29.4 (10.6) | 28 (8 – 52) | 43.5 (20.3) |
| CFS | 16.0 (5.8) | 15 (1 – 28) | 48.3 (17.6) |
| RS | 5.1 (2.7) | 5 (0 – 10) | 51.1 (26.7) |
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| Fatigue contrasts | N (%) | Contrasts discrepancies | N (%) |
| Much less fatigue | 49 (15.9) | Mirror | 54 (35.1) |
| Somewhat less fatigue | 32 (10.4) | Minor | 48 (31.2) |
| A little bit less fatigue | 44 (14.3) | Moderate | 29 (18.8) |
| About the same fatigue | 69 (22.4) | Major | 23 (14.9) |
| A little bit more fatigue | 31 (10.1) | ||
| Somewhat more fatigue | 43 (14.0) | ||
| Much more fatigue | 40 (13.0) | ||
Legend. For all but VT and FACIT–F, higher raw scores indicate higher level (severity or impact) of fatigue. Normalized scores range from 0 to 100 with higher scores indicating higher fatigue levels. Disease activity and pain were self-rated on 10-point numerical rating scales. A contrast was defined as the subjective comparison rating obtained at the end of a one-on-one conversation, between both participants of the pair. Each one-on-one conversation provided 2 contrasts, and the 61 participants each involved in 5 to 6 one-on-one conversations provided 308 contrasts. A mirror contrast between two conversational partners was defined as one that should theoretically be expected (“About the same fatigue” and “About the same fatigue”, “Much more fatigue” and “Much less fatigue”, etc…). Minor, moderate and major discrepancies were defined for respectively 1, 2 and 3 or more unexpected category differences in the subjective rating scale (For example, a minor discrepancy was defined for “About the same fatigue” and “A little bit more fatigue”, a moderate discrepancy as “About the same fatigue” and “Somewhat more fatigue”, etc…).
Abbreviations. HAQ: Health Assessment Questionnaire. FSS: Fatigue Severity Scale, VT: Vitality scale of the MOS-SF36, MAF: Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue, MFI: Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory, FACIT–F: Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy–Fatigue scale, CFS: Chalder Fatigue Scale, RS: 10-point Rating Scale.