Measuring fatigue. Discussion of alternatives to questionnaires.

Yes. A bit like asking people how yellow something is.

 

Reminds me of another word... "stress".

 

In my own experience, my co-ordination issues are one of the prime ways that I make a judgement on whether I am struggling M.E. wise.

I always slow up if I notice any of the following:

• Slow eye focussing speed. (Far to near most obvious).
• Momentary loss of balance, requiring me to “reset” by touching something solid.
• More concentration required for simple tasks.
• Poor dexterity, eg writing or manipulation of small objects.
• Poor ability to follow conversations
• Uncharacteristic reluctance to participate in conversations
• Speech issues - words come out erratically (If this happens I know I really should have noticed sooner!)

PS When I was more severe, these happened a lot or much of the time. Now I am faring a bit better, I take them as warnings. Pushing on through any one of these never ends well.

 

I would think the speed measuring code (eg, javascript) would run locally on your device and not be affected by internet speed.

 

This test has to be done with a mouse. Touchscreen isn't fast enough. It was three times slower in my experience.

 

Don't worry @Hutan. No crying happened. In fact I couldn't help laughing at the the suggestion to consult my doctor. Please doctor, my reaction times are slow, do you have a pill for that? And how often do you get a test result that says something is wrong with you?!

I did the test when at the tail end of PEM so not surprised at the poor result (694msec) and I did feel pretty dopey.

Have since repeated the test when feeling a lot more perky and did much better (332msec) but disconcertingly they still recommended seeing my doctor. I wonder what a normal result would be? Has anybody achieved one?

Obviously have only the 2 results to go on so far but they support the idea that this type of test could be used to monitor fluctuations in whatever it is that it measures (fatigue, alertness, motor control, …?).