Review Fatigue Rating Scales Critique and Recommendations by the Movement Disorders Society Task Force on Rating Scales for Parkinson’s Disease

Fatigue has been shown to be a consistent and common problem in Parkinson’s disease (PD) in multiple countries and cultures. It is one of the most disabling of all symptoms, including motor dysfunction, and appears early, often predating the onset of motor symptoms. Several studies of the epidemiology of fatigue have been published, often using different scales, but few on treatment. The Movement Disorder Society (MDS) commissioned a task force to assess available clinical rating scales, critique their psychometric properties, summarize their clinical properties, and evaluate the evidence in support of their use in clinical studies in PD. Six clinical researchers reviewed all studies published in peer reviewed journals of fatigue in PD, evaluated the scales’ previous use, performance parameters, and quality of validation data, if available. Scales were rated according to criteria provided by the MDS. A scale was ‘‘recommended’’ if it has been used in clinical studies beyond the group that developed it, has been used in PD and psychometric studies have established that it is a valid, reliable and sensitive to change in Potential conflict of interest: None. Additional Supporting Information may be found in the online version of this article. *Correspondence to: Dr. Joseph H. Friedman, NeuroHealth, 227 Centerville Rd, Warwick, RI 02886. E-mail: [email protected] Received 20 July 2009; Revised 9 November 2009; Accepted 11 December 2009 Published online 13 April 2010 in Wiley InterScience (www. interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/mds.22989 805 Movement Disorders Vol. 25, No. 7, 2010, pp. 805–822 2010 Movement Disorder Society