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Cognitive functioning in post-polio patients with and without general fatigue.

Ostlund G, Borg K, Wahlin A

Department of Public Health Science, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

OBJECTIVE AND DESIGN: This study examined 2 main hypotheses. First, whether patients with post-polio suffering from general fatigue (n=10) demonstrate cognitive deficits compared with patients with post-polio without general fatigue (n=10). Secondly, by systematically varied test order administration we examined whether such differences varied as a function of increasing cognitive load during cognitive testing. SUBJECTS: Twenty patients diagnosed with post-polio syndrome, 10 with general fatigue and 10 without fatigue. RESULTS: Neither of the 2 hypotheses were confirmed. The group with general fatigue reported elevated levels of depression. However, no systematic association between level of depression and cognitive performance could be detected. CONCLUSION: The results of this study provide no evidence that general fatigue or cognitive load affects cognitive functioning in post-polio.

Published 25 July 2005 in J Rehabil Med, 37(3): 147-51.
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