Wetherell A
Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, Protection and Life Sciences Division, Porton Down, Salisbury, United Kingdom.
Environ Health Perspect. 1997 Mar;105 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):495-503. doi: 10.1289/ehp.97105s2495.
People suffering from multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) complain of a variety of symptoms that could impair cognitive and psychomotor function either directly or indirectly. This paper discusses the use of cognitive and psychomotor performance tests together with some experiment designs that could be considered for use to assess fitness of MCS sufferers for work or the efficacy of diagnostic, preventative, or therapeutic measures. The tests could also contribute to the body of objective information on MCS and help sway the opinion of those who are dubious of its authenticity. The credentials of cognitive and psychomotor performance tests are derived from their successful use in studying the effects of drugs, and the types of tests are illustrated by describing those used by the United Kingdom Defence Evaluation and Research Agency Chemical and Biological Defence Human Studies Group, which has been involved in the assessment of drugs and chemicals on work performance for many years. The tests include mathematical, verbal and spatial processing, tracking, reaction time, attention and vigilance, and memory tests. The discussion of experiment designs includes both repeated measures and parallel groups designs together with their advantages and disadvantages and some suggested modifications to accommodate the particular problems posed by MCS.
患有多重化学物质敏感症（MCS）的人会抱怨出现各种症状，这些症状可能直接或间接损害认知和心理运动功能。本文讨论了认知和心理运动表现测试的使用，以及一些可用于评估MCS患者工作适应性或诊断、预防或治疗措施效果的实验设计。这些测试还可以为有关MCS的客观信息提供补充，并有助于改变那些对其真实性存疑者的看法。认知和心理运动表现测试的可靠性源于它们在研究药物效果方面的成功应用，文中通过描述英国国防评估与研究局化学与生物防御人体研究小组所使用的测试来说明测试类型，该小组多年来一直参与评估药物和化学物质对工作表现的影响。这些测试包括数学、语言和空间处理、追踪、反应时间、注意力和警觉性以及记忆测试。对实验设计的讨论包括重复测量设计和平行组设计，以及它们的优缺点，还提出了一些建议的修改，以适应MCS带来的特殊问题。
