Open GEM study - Prevalence of genetic diseases in ME/CFS patients, 2022, Esther Crawley, Bristol University

On twitter, someone pointed out the Depression and Anxiety questionnaire used would give false positives based on being sick.

Quote:

For example they ask things like “do you take care of your appearance as much as you used to”

Now in energy limiting illness we often are unable to, so no we don’t, but it’s not depression.

They also ask “do you look forward to things as much as you used to”…well, no!​

 

Problems with HADS have been discussed on S4ME before; I did notice, though, that they're using a different scale for children:

This one similarly has questions at least overlapping with core or common features of ME:

Q11 "I have trouble sleeping"
Q15 "I have problems with my appetite"
Q19 "I have no energy for things"
Q21 "I am tired a lot"
Q25 "I cannot think clearly"

Also Q24 ("When I have a problem, my heart beats really fast") and Q36 ("I suddenly become dizzy or faint when there is no reason for this") will overlap with postural tachycardia, Q40 ("I feel like I don’t want to move") may apply to anyone who is sufficiently severely affected that any movement will cause PEM and Q30 ("I worry about making mistakes") will probably be answered in the affirmative by anyone with brain fog.

 

Thread on HADS here, https://www.s4me.info/threads/the-hospital-anxiety-and-depression-scale-hads-a-discussion.10160/

 

I raised concerns around HADS and Chalder with the researcher, after having submitted my responses. They acknowledged the limitations and said they're working on a new set of questions as it's something they realise there's a need for ME/CFS.

 

I'd forgotten about that thread!
Would it be OK to point the researcher to it?

 

Absolutely, please do.