Haig-Ferguson A, Tucker P, Eaton N, Hunt L, Crawley E
Centre for Child and Adolescent Health, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Arch Dis Child. 2009 Oct;94(10):757-62. doi: 10.1136/adc.2008.143032. Epub 2008 Nov 11.
To understand more about the problems children with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) or myalgic encephalopathy (ME) experience with memory and attention, and to test the feasibility of quantitative measurement of both memory and attention.
Four-item semistructured questionnaire and neuropsychological test battery with 10 psychometric subtests.
Family home of the child taking part.
20 children with a diagnosis of CFS/ME experiencing memory and/or concentration problems were recruited between April and October 2007 from a regional CFS/ME clinical service (female 13; average age 13.5 years; range 8-16).
Each child, parent and teacher was asked to describe the child's memory and attention problems. Responses were subject to thematic analysis by two independent researchers. In addition, each child completed a battery of 10 tests to measure: processing speed; attention; immediate and delayed memory; working memory; executive function. Raw scores were converted into age-scaled scores and the children's psychometric scores on the 10 tests taken were compared with normative data using t tests.
Children with CFS/ME, their parents and teachers described problems with focussed attention, sustained attention, recall and stress. Scores for sustained attention (mean 8.1, 95% CI 6.3 to 9.9), switching attention (7.5, 5.5 to 9.4), divided attention (6.9, 5.5 to 8.2), auditory learning (8.2, 6.8 to 9.6) and immediate recall (8.7, 7.3 to 10.0) appeared lower than the normative mean of 10.
Children with CFS/ME appear to experience problems with attention, which may have adverse implications for verbal memory. These cognitive problems may explain some of the educational difficulties associated with CFS.
更深入了解慢性疲劳综合征（CFS）或肌痛性脑脊髓炎（ME）患儿在记忆和注意力方面所经历的问题，并测试对记忆和注意力进行定量测量的可行性。
四项半结构化问卷以及包含10个心理测量子测试的神经心理测试组。
参与研究儿童的家庭住所。
20名被诊断为CFS/ME且存在记忆和/或注意力问题的儿童于2007年4月至10月间从某地区CFS/ME临床服务机构招募（女性13名；平均年龄13.5岁；范围8 - 16岁）。
要求每位儿童、家长和教师描述该儿童的记忆和注意力问题。两名独立研究人员对回答进行主题分析。此外，每位儿童完成一组10项测试以测量：处理速度；注意力；即时和延迟记忆；工作记忆；执行功能。原始分数转换为年龄标准化分数，并使用t检验将儿童在这10项测试中的心理测量分数与常模数据进行比较。
CFS/ME患儿、其家长和教师描述了集中注意力、持续注意力、回忆和压力方面的问题。持续注意力（均值8.1，95%可信区间6.3至9.9）、注意力转换（7.5，5.5至9.4）、分散注意力（6.9，5.5至8.2）、听觉学习（8.2，6.8至9.6）和即时回忆（8.7，7.3至10.0）的分数似乎低于常模均值10。
CFS/ME患儿似乎存在注意力问题，这可能对言语记忆产生不利影响。这些认知问题可能解释了与CFS相关的一些教育困难。
