I'm intrigued to understand how, in the design of trials, one has addressed this construct. A number of questionnaires are out there that have proved fairly successful, however, the issue of the third variable and how to correctly identify fatigue in comparative trials is not without its challenges. For example, in a drug trial, how can the construct of fatigue be identified in relation to any positive effect it may have? This clearly may be influenced by the unique pathology contributing to either physical or emotional fatigue, but may well also include its interpretation and longitudinal aspects of capturing any fatigue effects. Any thoughts would be most welcome.
If one is looking for a subjective measure try the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (Akerstedt et al). For a behavioural measure based on vigilance try the Psychomotor Vigilance task (Dinges et al)
Be careful in considering sleepiness and fatigue as synonyms. They are not. The Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) is the best measure for sleepiness, that is the drive one feels to fall asleep. Fatigue is an entirely different concept, One could try the Samn-Perelli Fatigue scale for measuring that. The Psychomotor Vigilance task (PVT) measures simple reaction time, and can not be considered a direct measurement of either sleepiness or fatigue (although many researcher may think differently).
'Loss Aversion'. I was wondering whether anyone has tried to grabble with this fundamental aspect of human behaviour. Whether it be in health terms or the aquisition of products. Were often faced with trying to understnad the uptake of something in terms of its benefits.If you considor conjoint or trade offs they focus on what i will gain based on standard utlilty theory. Yet, Kahnemmans insights from Prospect theory make clear that in a risky decieion making process we hate to lose more than we love to gain.
So, my question is has anyone thoguht of approaches when faced with making a behaviour change where the focus is on what we stand to lose rather than what we stand to gain from an intervention.
Maybe the conservation of resources theory approaches this idea
Alvaro, C., Lyons, R. F., Warner, G., Hobfoll, S. E., Martens, P. J., Labonté, R., & Brown, R. E. (2010). Conservation of resources theory and research use in health systems. Im-plementation science, 5: 79.
Hobfoll, S. E., & Shirom, A. (1993), Stress and burnout in the workplace: conservation of resources. In R.T. Golembiewski, (Ed.), Handbook of organizational behavior (pp. 41-60). New York: M. Dekker.
In addition to the increase of lactic acid and the reduction of muscular glycogen, the MAIN cause of muscular fatigue is the change of ph in the microenvironment. If we measured the ph level inside the muscle cells, where the myosin head interacts with the actin filament, we would note a physiological ph level. But when the exercise is extreme, that is when too many times the ATP has been hydrolyzed, H+ ions increases and the ph level may low from 7 to 4. Because the myosin head has an optimal conformation at ph 7-7.2, ph 4 levels brakes the contractile event, because each enzyme needs for an optimal ph to act. This is a transitory condition, but it’s sufficient to prevent the exercise continuation.
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