Background: The DePaul Symptom Questionnaire (DSQ) was developed to provide a structured approach for collecting standardized symptomatology and health history information to allow researchers and clinicians to determine whether a patient meets the diagnostic criteria for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), and/or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the test-retest reliability of the DSQ.
Methods: Test-retest reliability of the measure was examined with a sample of 26 adults self-identifying as having either ME/CFS, ME and/or CFS and 25 adults who did not self-identify as having these illnesses and were otherwise healthy controls.
Results: Overall, the majority of items on the DSQ exhibited good to excellent test-retest reliability, with Pearson's or kappa correlation coefficients that were 0.70 or higher.
Conclusions: Thus, the present study suggests that the DSQ is a reliable diagnostic measure that can provide a standardized way of examining illness constructs and symptomatology among patients who identify as having ME/CFS, ME and/or CFS.
Keywords: DePaul Symptom Questionnaire; Myalgic Encephalomyelitis; Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome; chronic fatigue syndrome; reliability.