Just in case you were wondering what the scales in the two charts mean, here's the detail from the paper. Note, for the Objective Activity, that the chart has a truncated y axis - the oldest trick in the book to make non-significant differences look more different. Only baseline levels of Objective Activity were reported to the participants, at other times the participants did not know their Objective Activity measurement.
For the Perceived Activity, the y values are from a 3 question questionnaire.
"Objective activity
Objective activity was measured using an actometer, a motion sensing device developed at the Radboud University, worn around the ankle
[29]. The mean number of accelerations was calculated automatically every 5 min, based on which a mean daily activity score was calculated. Activity was registered during 12 days both before and after treatment. During treatment, objective activity was registered during 4 complete days to limit the burden for participants. At the end of the measurement period data were visually checked by a research assistant to ensure that the device had worked properly and to check compliance. Days on which the device was worn for less than 22 h were excluded. Patients did not receive feedback on their activity level during the measurements, but they were told their activity level after the
baseline measurement."
"Perceived physical activity
Perceived physical activity was measured with an adapted version of the subscale physical activity of the Checklist Individual Strength
[22]. This subscale indicates the perceived level of physical activity in the previous two weeks, measured with three items (I am physically very active (reverse scoring); I am physically not very active; My level of physical activity is low). These items are measured on a seven-point scale ranging from ‘Yes, that is true’ to ‘No, that is not true’. Scores range from 3 to 21, with higher scores indicating a lower level of physical activity. The mean (SD) of the subscale in 915 untreated CFS patients was 18.0 (4.24) and Cronbach's alpha was .81."
