ArticleHealth and quality of life outcomes2022
Evaluating fatigue in patients recovering from COVID-19: validation of the fatigue severity scale and single item screening questions.
Article in Health and quality of life outcomes, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06460636 (Combined Effects of Progressive Relaxation Exercises and Aquatic Therapy on Clinical Symptoms, Physical Function and Quality of Life in Patients With Fibromyalgia.), which is not on this map. Cited by 35 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Combined Effects of Progressive Relaxation Exercises and Aquatic Therapy on Clinical Symptoms, Physical Function and Quality of Life in Patients With Fibromyalgia.
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- The global prevalence of depression, anxiety, and sleep disorder among patients coping with Post COVID-19 syndrome (long COVID): a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Effects of a symptom-titrated exercise program on fatigue and quality of life in people with post-COVID condition - a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Virtual pulmonary rehabilitation approaches in patients with post COVID syndrome: a pilot study.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2024Trial
- Unravelling the diversity of pacing behaviours in adults with chronic conditions: a cross-sectional study.BMJ open · 2026Observational
- Feasibility, Adherence, Acceptance and Usability of a Multimodal Telemonitoring for Pediatric Post-COVID Syndrome: A Bicentric Pilot Study.Journal of medical systems · 2026Article
- Differential Factors Associated With the Presence of Persistent Symptoms in Individuals Diagnosed With Long COVID: Protocol for a Longitudinal Matched Case-Control Study.JMIR research protocols · 2026Observational
- Prevalence of severe fatigue after SARS-CoV-2 infection in Norway: a prospective 2-year follow-up study.BMJ open · 2026Article
- ATP bioenergetics and fatigue in young adults with and without major depression.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Validity and Reliability of the Fatigue Severity Scale in an Adult Swedish Burn Population.European burn journal · 2026Article
- Long-term outcomes following a pulmonary telerehabilitation trial for people with respiratory post-acute sequelae of COVID: a 12-month follow-up study.Journal of rehabilitation medicine · 2026Article
- Overburden of informal caregivers of older adults with Post-COVID Syndrome.Revista brasileira de enfermagem · 2026Article
- Article
- Predicting Medication Adherence in Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia in Oman: The Role of Beliefs and Fatigue.Patient preference and adherence · 2026Article
- Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): diagnosis and management.Journal of translational medicine · 2025Review
- Trajectories of Physical Disabilities Over 6 Months in Patients With Long COVID.Physical therapy · 2025Article
- The impact of mind-body internet and mobile-based interventions on fatigue in adults living with chronic physical conditions: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.PLOS digital health · 2025Article
- Trajectories of persisting Covid- 19 symptoms up to 24 months after acute infection: findings from the Predi-Covid cohort study.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Observational
- Multimodal Telerehabilitation in Post COVID-19 Condition Recovery: A Series of 12 Cases.Reports (MDPI) · 2025Article
- Observational
- Kyungok-go for fatigue in patients with long COVID: Double-blind, randomized, multicenter, pilot clinical study protocol.PloS one · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFatigue is a common symptom in hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients recovering from COVID-19, but no fatigue measurement scales or questions have been validated in these populations. The objective of this study was to perform validity assessments of the fatigue severity scale (FSS) and two single-item screening questions (SISQs) for fatigue in patients recovering from COVID-19.
methodsWe examined patients ≥ 28 days after their first SARS-CoV-2 infection who were hospitalized for their acute illness, as well as non-hospitalized patients referred for persistent symptoms. Patients completed questionnaires through 1 of 4 Post COVID-19 Recovery Clinics in British Columbia, Canada. Construct validity was assessed by comparing FSS scores to quality of life and depression measures. Two SISQs were evaluated based on the ability to classify fatigue (FSS score ≥ 4).
resultsQuestionnaires were returned in 548 hospitalized and 546 non-hospitalized patients, with scores computable in 96.4% and 98.2% of patients respectively. Cronbach's alpha was 0.96 in both groups. The mean ± SD FSS score was 4.4 ± 1.8 in the hospitalized and 5.2 ± 1.6 in the non-hospitalized group, with 62.5% hospitalized and 78.9% non-hospitalized patients classified as fatigued. Ceiling effects were 7.6% in the hospitalized and 16.1% in non-hospitalized patients. FSS scores negatively correlated with EQ-5D scores in both groups (Spearman's rho - 0.6 in both hospitalized and non-hospitalized; p < 0.001) and were higher among patients with a positive PHQ-2 depression screen (5.4 vs. 4.0 in hospitalized and 5.9 vs. 4.9 in non-hospitalized; p < 0.001). An SISQ asking whether there was "fatigue present" had a sensitivity of 70.6% in hospitalized and 83.2% in non-hospitalized patients; the "always feeling tired" SISQ, had a sensitivity of 70.5% and 89.6% respectively.
conclusionsFatigue was common and severe in patients referred for post COVID-19 assessment. Overall, the FSS is suitable for measuring fatigue in these patients, as there was excellent data quality, strong internal consistency, and construct validity. However, ceiling effects may be a limitation in the non-hospitalized group. SISQs had good sensitivity for identifying clinically relevant fatigue in non-hospitalized patients but only moderate sensitivity in the hospitalized group, indicating that there were more false negatives.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.