PAIN, FATIGUE, AND SLEEP IN EOSINOPHILIA-MYALGIA-SYNDROME - RELATIONSHIP TO NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL PERFORMANCE

Cognitive problems are frequently reported in patients with eosinophil ia-myalgia syndrome (EMS). This is the first study to explore, in EMS, the relationship between specific neuropsychological deficits and fat igue and pain. Relationships among depression, sleep disturbance, and neuro-psychological deficits in EMS were also examined. Neither fatigu e nor pain was correlated with memory impairment. Sleep disturbance wa s significantly correlated with verbal memory impairment, but not with deficits in visuospatial memory. These results suggest that cognitive loss in EMS cannot be attributed to pain or fatigue. Although some as pects of memory impairment may be associated with disturbed sleep, vis ual memory deficits are clearly independent of sleep deficits and may result from direct effects of the disease on the central nervous syste m.