[Cognitive function and psychological characteristics of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome].

Objective: To investigate the cognitive function and psychological characteristics of the patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in China and analyze its relation with primary psychological diseases.

Methods: Ninety-one patients with CFS who visited the People's Hospital, Peking University, in Beijing from Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shandong, Sichuan, Gansu, Fujian, and Guangdong, 42 males and 49 females, aged 37 +/- 7, 43% of which had the record of formal schooling of regular college course or over and 21 of which had the record of formal schooling of college for professional training, and 58% of which showed clear causes, diagnosed by the CDC criteria 1994, underwent case history collection, physical examination, necessary laboratory test, memory test, and SCL-90, Hamilton depression rating scale (HAMD), and Hamilton anxiety rating scale (HAMA) testing. Thirty healthy persons, 14 males and 16 females, aged 37 +/- 7, were used as controls., A table of case file was established based on the CDC criteria 1994 for each patient to record the relevant data. Independent-Samples T Test was used to compare the memory quotient, the total score and general mean score of SCL-90, the score of HAMD and HAMA. Analyzed the impairment of cognitive function and psychological characteristics of patients with CFS.

Results: The most common symptoms was descent of remembrance and/or attention (82/91, 90%). The memory quotient of the CFS patients was 85 +/- 14, significantly lower than that of the healthy controls (98 +/- 12, t = 4.627, P = 0.000). The total score of SCL-90 of the CFS patients was 192 +/- 47, significantly higher than that of the healthy controls (140 +/- 46, t = 5.297, P = 0.000). The symptoms with a factor score > or = 2.0 in SCL-90 included obsessive-compulsive symptoms (61/91, 67%), somatization (61/91, 67 %), depression (57/91, 63%), and anxiety (49/91, 54%). The HAMD score of the CFS patients was 9.9 +/- 6.1, significantly higher than that of the healthy controls (6.5 +/- 2.5, t = 2.948, P = 0.004). The HAMA score of the CFS patients was 9.9 +/- 7.0, significantly higher than that of the healthy controls (5.9 +/- 2.9, t = 3.015, P = 0.003).

Conclusion: The CFS patients in China have an obvious impairment of remembrance and show different psychological abnormalities that are different from those of the patients with primary psychological diseases.