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Fatigue Sections
Author Bio
Introduction
Fatigue in Medical Illness
Fatigue Defined
Research Questions
Measurement and Assessment
Fatigue Measurement
Related Constructs
Designing Fatigue Surveys
Currently selected section: Case Definition
Data Collection
Maximizing Completion
Designing Intervention Trials
Controlled Trials
Selecting Study Procedures
Issues in Data Analysis
Conclusion
Chapter 9: Fatigue: Case Definition
        

You Answered:

Selection AUsing the word "fatigue" or "weakness," without additional qualifiers, is best because the largest number of cases will be identified.

INCORRECT

The correct answer is (c).

Although it is probably true that the largest number of cases will be identified by this approach, this may or may not serve the interests of the study. On the plus side, the distribution of cases available for analysis at the end of the study will probably include a broad range of severity---from mild to very severe. This may facilitate informative statistical analyses, potentially allowing more robust multivariate analyses of factors associated with fatigue severity. On the minus side, however, a skewed distribution, with a large majority of cases reflecting mild fatigue, or even possibly, fatigue that is not "pathologic," could complicate the interpretation of the data or lead to questions about the generalizability of the results.

 

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