The Relationship between Diurnal Measures of Tonic Alertness and Self-Reported Fatigue in Persons with Multiple Sclerosis-A Retrospective Data Analysis

Jonas O Weinrich; Jochen Saliger; Mareike Eschweiler; Hans Karbe; Elke Kalbe; Jörn Nielsen

doi:10.1093/arclin/acad040

The Relationship between Diurnal Measures of Tonic Alertness and Self-Reported Fatigue in Persons with Multiple Sclerosis-A Retrospective Data Analysis

Arch Clin Neuropsychol. 2023 Nov 22;38(8):1610-1622. doi: 10.1093/arclin/acad040.

Authors

Jonas O Weinrich¹, Jochen Saliger¹, Mareike Eschweiler¹, Hans Karbe¹, Elke Kalbe², Jörn Nielsen^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Cognitive Rehabilitation, Neurological Rehabilitation Center Godeshoehe GmbH, Waldstr. 2-10, 53177 Bonn, Germany.
² Department of Medical Psychology | Neuropsychology and Gender Studies, Center for Neuropsychological Diagnostics and Intervention (CeNDI), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne 50937, Germany.

PMID: 37253664
DOI: 10.1093/arclin/acad040

Abstract

Objective: Fatigue in multiple sclerosis (MS) is common, burdensome, and usually assessed by self-report measures. This retrospective data analysis of the twice-daily Alertness test (Test battery of Attentional Performance) examined the extent to which this assessment procedure is associated with MS-related fatigue.

Method: Two-hundred and thirteen German inpatients (136 women) aged 18-69 years with predominantly relapsing MS (72.8%) were included. Based on reaction time (RT) differences between morning tonic alertness (8:30-11:00 a.m.) and afternoon tonic alertness (3:00-4:30 p.m.), patients were divided into an "improver," "maintainer," or "decliner" group. Multinomial logistic regression (MLR) was calculated to predict the likelihood of belonging to one of these performance groups, taking into account cognitive fatigue (Fatigue Scale of Motor and Cognition, FSMCcog), disease severity (Expanded Disability Status Scale, EDSS), depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, CES-D), gender, and tonic alertness (a.m.).

Results: The final MLR model (R2 = .30) included tonic alertness (a.m.) (<.001), FSMCcog (.008), EDSS (.038), CES-D (.161), and gender (.057). Using this model, correct assignment to alertness performance groups was 56.8%. Tonic alertness (p.m.) demonstrated the greatest potential for differentiation among the three performance groups (<.001).

Conclusions: These results show a relationship between subjective fatigue and tonic alertness. However, other variables also contribute to this association, suggesting that the RT differences between twice-daily measures of tonic alertness is not related to increased subjective fatigue in a substantial number of pwMS, which diminishes the diagnostic value. Further studies including relevant variables such as sleepiness are urgently needed.

Keywords: Alertness; Depression; Fatigability; Fatigue; Multiple sclerosis; Rehabilitation.

MeSH terms

Attention
Female
Humans
Multiple Sclerosis* / psychology
Neuropsychological Tests
Retrospective Studies
Self Report