TY - JOUR
T1 - Standardized symptom measurement of individuals with early lyme disease over time
AU - Bechtold, Kathleen T.
AU - Rebman, Alison W.
AU - Crowder, Lauren A.
AU - Johnson-Greene, Doug
AU - Aucott, John N.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
PY - 2017/3
Y1 - 2017/3
N2 - Objective: Understanding the Lyme disease (LD) literature is challenging given the lack of consistent methodology and standardized measurement of symptoms and the impact on functioning. This prospective study incorporates well-validated measures to capture the symptom picture of individuals with early LD from time of diagnosis through 6-months post-treatment. Method: One hundred seven patients with confirmed early LD and 26 healthy controls were evaluated using standardized instruments for pain, fatigue, depressive symptoms, functional impact, and cognitive functioning. Results: Prior to antibiotic treatment, patients experience notable symptoms of fatigue and pain statistically higher than controls. After treatment, there are no group differences, suggesting that symptoms resolve and that there are no residual cognitive impairments at the level of group analysis. However, using subgroup analyses, some individuals experience persistent symptoms that lead to functional decline and these individuals can be identified immediately post-completion of standard antibiotic treatment using well-validated symptom measures. Conclusions: Overall, the findings suggest that ideally-treated early LD patients recover well and experience symptom resolution over time, though a small subgroup continue to suffer with symptoms that lead to functional decline. The authors discuss use of standardized instruments for identification of individuals who warrant further clinical follow-up.
AB - Objective: Understanding the Lyme disease (LD) literature is challenging given the lack of consistent methodology and standardized measurement of symptoms and the impact on functioning. This prospective study incorporates well-validated measures to capture the symptom picture of individuals with early LD from time of diagnosis through 6-months post-treatment. Method: One hundred seven patients with confirmed early LD and 26 healthy controls were evaluated using standardized instruments for pain, fatigue, depressive symptoms, functional impact, and cognitive functioning. Results: Prior to antibiotic treatment, patients experience notable symptoms of fatigue and pain statistically higher than controls. After treatment, there are no group differences, suggesting that symptoms resolve and that there are no residual cognitive impairments at the level of group analysis. However, using subgroup analyses, some individuals experience persistent symptoms that lead to functional decline and these individuals can be identified immediately post-completion of standard antibiotic treatment using well-validated symptom measures. Conclusions: Overall, the findings suggest that ideally-treated early LD patients recover well and experience symptom resolution over time, though a small subgroup continue to suffer with symptoms that lead to functional decline. The authors discuss use of standardized instruments for identification of individuals who warrant further clinical follow-up.
KW - Cognitive impairment
KW - Fatigue
KW - Lyme disease
KW - Post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome
KW - Symptom measurement
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U2 - 10.1093/arclin/acw098
DO - 10.1093/arclin/acw098
M3 - Article
C2 - 28365751
AN - SCOPUS:85017488855
SN - 0887-6177
VL - 32
SP - 129
EP - 141
JO - Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology
JF - Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology
IS - 2
ER -