Task-Based Cognitive Fatigability for Older Adults and Validation of Mental Fatigability Subscore of Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale

Cognitive fatigue and cognitive fatigability are distinct constructs. Cognitive fatigue reflects perception of cognitive fatigue outside of the context of activity level and duration and can be reliably assessed via established instruments such as the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and the Modified Fa...

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Main Authors: Sarah E. Burke, Immanuel Babu Henry Samuel, Qing Zhao, Jackson Cagle, Ronald A. Cohen, Benzi Kluger, Mingzhou Ding
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2018-10-01
Series:Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnagi.2018.00327/full
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author Sarah E. Burke
Immanuel Babu Henry Samuel
Qing Zhao
Jackson Cagle
Ronald A. Cohen
Benzi Kluger
Mingzhou Ding
author_facet Sarah E. Burke
Immanuel Babu Henry Samuel
Qing Zhao
Jackson Cagle
Ronald A. Cohen
Benzi Kluger
Mingzhou Ding
author_sort Sarah E. Burke
collection DOAJ
description Cognitive fatigue and cognitive fatigability are distinct constructs. Cognitive fatigue reflects perception of cognitive fatigue outside of the context of activity level and duration and can be reliably assessed via established instruments such as the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS). In contrast, cognitive fatigability reflects change in fatigue levels quantified within the context of the level and duration of cognitive activity, and currently there are no reliable measures of cognitive fatigability. A recently published scale, the Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale (PFS), attempts to remedy this problem with a focus on the aged population. While the physical fatigability subscore of PFS has been validated using physical activity derived measures, the mental fatigability subscore of PFS remains to be tested against equivalent measures derived from cognitive activities. To this end, we recruited 35 older, healthy adult participants (mean age 73.77 ± 5.9) to complete the PFS as well as a prolonged continuous performance of a Stroop task (>2 h). Task-based assessments included time-on-task changes in self-reported fatigue scores (every 20 min), reaction time, and pupil diameter. Defining subjective fatigability, behavioral fatigability, and physiologic/autonomic fatigability to be the slope of change over time-on-task in the above three assessed variables, we found that the PFS mental subscore was not correlated with any of the three task-based fatigability measures. Instead, the PFS mental subscore was correlated with trait level fatigue measures FSS (ρ = 0.63, p < 0.001), and MFIS cognitive subsection (ρ = 0.36, p = 0.03). This finding suggested that the PFS mental fatigability subscore may not be an adequate measure of how fatigued one becomes after a given amount of mental work. Further development efforts are needed to create a self-report scale that reliably captures cognitive fatigability in older adults.
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spelling doaj.art-fcae97986a0e4c309febf8105d8343a92022-12-21T22:25:59ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience1663-43652018-10-011010.3389/fnagi.2018.00327415517Task-Based Cognitive Fatigability for Older Adults and Validation of Mental Fatigability Subscore of Pittsburgh Fatigability ScaleSarah E. Burke0Immanuel Babu Henry Samuel1Qing Zhao2Jackson Cagle3Ronald A. Cohen4Benzi Kluger5Mingzhou Ding6Department of Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United StatesJ. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United StatesJ. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United StatesJ. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United StatesDepartment of Clinical and Health Psychology, College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United StatesDepartments of Neurology and Psychiatry, Anschutz School of Medicine, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO, United StatesJ. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United StatesCognitive fatigue and cognitive fatigability are distinct constructs. Cognitive fatigue reflects perception of cognitive fatigue outside of the context of activity level and duration and can be reliably assessed via established instruments such as the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS). In contrast, cognitive fatigability reflects change in fatigue levels quantified within the context of the level and duration of cognitive activity, and currently there are no reliable measures of cognitive fatigability. A recently published scale, the Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale (PFS), attempts to remedy this problem with a focus on the aged population. While the physical fatigability subscore of PFS has been validated using physical activity derived measures, the mental fatigability subscore of PFS remains to be tested against equivalent measures derived from cognitive activities. To this end, we recruited 35 older, healthy adult participants (mean age 73.77 ± 5.9) to complete the PFS as well as a prolonged continuous performance of a Stroop task (>2 h). Task-based assessments included time-on-task changes in self-reported fatigue scores (every 20 min), reaction time, and pupil diameter. Defining subjective fatigability, behavioral fatigability, and physiologic/autonomic fatigability to be the slope of change over time-on-task in the above three assessed variables, we found that the PFS mental subscore was not correlated with any of the three task-based fatigability measures. Instead, the PFS mental subscore was correlated with trait level fatigue measures FSS (ρ = 0.63, p < 0.001), and MFIS cognitive subsection (ρ = 0.36, p = 0.03). This finding suggested that the PFS mental fatigability subscore may not be an adequate measure of how fatigued one becomes after a given amount of mental work. Further development efforts are needed to create a self-report scale that reliably captures cognitive fatigability in older adults.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnagi.2018.00327/fullcognitive fatigabilityStroop taskfatigueperformance measuresvalidation
spellingShingle Sarah E. Burke
Immanuel Babu Henry Samuel
Qing Zhao
Jackson Cagle
Ronald A. Cohen
Benzi Kluger
Mingzhou Ding
Task-Based Cognitive Fatigability for Older Adults and Validation of Mental Fatigability Subscore of Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
cognitive fatigability
Stroop task
fatigue
performance measures
validation
title Task-Based Cognitive Fatigability for Older Adults and Validation of Mental Fatigability Subscore of Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale
title_full Task-Based Cognitive Fatigability for Older Adults and Validation of Mental Fatigability Subscore of Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale
title_fullStr Task-Based Cognitive Fatigability for Older Adults and Validation of Mental Fatigability Subscore of Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale
title_full_unstemmed Task-Based Cognitive Fatigability for Older Adults and Validation of Mental Fatigability Subscore of Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale
title_short Task-Based Cognitive Fatigability for Older Adults and Validation of Mental Fatigability Subscore of Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale
title_sort task based cognitive fatigability for older adults and validation of mental fatigability subscore of pittsburgh fatigability scale
topic cognitive fatigability
Stroop task
fatigue
performance measures
validation
url https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnagi.2018.00327/full
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