Information processing in chronic fatigue syndrome - A preliminary investigation of suggestibility

This study examines the effects of certain types of information processing on the subjective experience of cognitive deficits in persons with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Two groups of participants, persons with CFS and a group of healthy controls, were administered a symptom inventory and measur es of intellectual functioning, memory, automatic processing, and suggestib ility. The groups differed significantly on number and severity of reported symptoms and on measures of global suggestibility and automatic processing , but not on measures of intellectual functioning and memory. Suggestibilit y was related to number and severity of reported symptoms, as well as the i nability to inhibit the automatic processing of information. Implications o f these findings are discussed, as well as directions for future research a nd treatment of symptoms associated with CFS. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc . All rights reserved.