The reliability of objective fatigue measures in Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Publication date: February 2020Source: Biomedical Signal Processing and Control, Volume 56Author(s): Gabriella Olmo, Francesca Farolfi, Federica Miola, Stefano Giorgi, Alessia Di Sapio, Antonio BertolottoAbstractFatigue is one of the most distressing symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, impairing quality of life, work performance and social interactions. Moreover, it is difficult to objectively assess, and is often evaluated via subjective questionnaire; however, objective metrics are highly desirable.Objective of this paper is to implement a differential fatigue measure based on evoked potentials, and assess its reliability and coherence with walking tests and subjective questionnaires.Method: the Regional Multiple Sclerosis Reference Centre, San Luigi Gonzaga Hospital, Italy, is carrying out tests in order to assess the effectiveness of 4-amino-pyridine for fatigue relief. This work takes as input evoked potential waveforms and implements an algorithm to perform suitable signal processing and provide a fatigue index and a related reliability metric. This information is put in relationship with the walking test results and the subjective fatigue scores.Preliminary results reveal that fatigue measures based on evoked potentials, subject to proper data processing, are not always coherent with subjective questionnaires and walking tests. This may be due to the fact that fatigue cannot be reduced to a mere muscular/conduction problem, and the walking tests are heavily conditioned by ...
Source: Biomedical Signal Processing and Control - Category: Biomedical Science Source Type: research