Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Gulf War Syndrome

The Cognitive Failure Questionnaire is a 25-item self-report measure of cognitive difficulty during daily living in the past six months. Each item is a question indicating a situation involving a type of cognitive failure (e.g. Do you find you forget why you went from one part of the house to another?), and the subject indicates how often that happens to them, on a scale of 0 (never) to 4 (very often). Scores range from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 100; the higher the score, the worse the outcome.

Time frame: 8 months

The Cognitive Failure Questionnaire is a 25-item self-report measure of cognitive difficulty during daily living in the past six months. Each item is a question indicating a situation involving a type of cognitive failure (e.g. Do you find you forget why you went from one part of the house to another?), and the subject indicates how often that happens to them, on a scale of 0 (never) to 4 (very often). Scores range from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 100; the higher the score, the worse the outcome.

Time frame: 2 months

The Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory is a 20-item self-report measure of various types of fatigue. Each item is a statement, and the subject indicates how much, on a scale of 1 (yes, that is true) to 5 (no, that is not true), he or she agrees with the statement (e.g. I feel very active.) Scores range from a minimum of 20 to a maximum of 100; the higher the score, the worse the outcome.

Time frame: 2 months

The Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory is a 20-item self-report measure of various types of fatigue. Each item is a statement, and the subject indicates how much, on a scale of 1 (yes, that is true) to 5 (no, that is not true), he or she agrees with the statement (e.g. I feel very active.) Scores range from a minimum of 20 to a maximum of 100; the higher the score, the worse the outcome.

Time frame: 8 months

The Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire is a self-report 22-item measure that assesses various types of pain on a scale of 0 (none) to 10 (worst possible) experienced during the past week. Score ranges from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 220; the higher the score, the worse the outcome.

Time frame: 2 months

The Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire is a self-report 22-item measure that assesses various types of pain on a scale of 0 (none) to 10 (worst possible) experienced during the past week. Score ranges from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 220; the higher the score, the worse the outcome.

Time frame: 8 months

The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) measures five aspects of mindfulness: Observing, Describing, Acting with Awareness, Non-judging, and Non-reacting. It is a 39-item self-report questionnaire. Subjects respond to each statement (e.g. I disapprove of myself when I have irrational ideas) by indicating how often they agree with the statement on a scale of 1 (never or very rarely true) to 5 (very often or always true). Scores range from a minimum of 39 to a maximum of 195. Higher scores indicate greater levels of mindfulness.

Time frame: 8 months

The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) measures five aspects of mindfulness: Observing, Describing, Acting with Awareness, Non-judging, and Non-reacting. It is a 39-item self-report questionnaire. Subjects respond to each statement (e.g. I disapprove of myself when I have irrational ideas) by indicating how often they agree with the statement on a scale of 1 (never or very rarely true) to 5 (very often or always true). Scores range from a minimum of 39 to a maximum of 195. Higher scores indicate greater levels of mindfulness.

Time frame: 2 months

The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) is a 9-item (with an additional 10th item if any of the previous 9 are endorsed) self-report measure of depression. Subjects are instructed to indicate how often, over the last 2 weeks, they have been bothered by each problem (e.g. feeling tired or having little energy), from not at all (0), to nearly every day (3). Scores range from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 30; the higher the score, the worse the outcome.

Time frame: 2 months

The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) is a 9-item (with an additional 10th item if any of the previous 9 are endorsed) self-report measure of depression. Subjects are instructed to indicate how often, over the last 2 weeks, they have been bothered by each problem (e.g. feeling tired or having little energy), from not at all (0), to nearly every day (3). Scores range from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 30; the higher the score, the worse the outcome.

Time frame: 8 months

The self-report PROMIS Fatigue measure uses a maximum of 7 questions to assess fatigue symptoms over the past 7 days. Subjects respond to each question (e.g. How often did you feel tired?) with the following scale: 1. = never 2. = rarely 3. = sometimes 4. = often 5. = always Raw scores are converted to T-scores, which are standardized to a mean of 50. Scores above 50 indicate higher than average fatigue; scores below 50 indicate lower than average fatigue.

Time frame: 2 months

The self-report PROMIS Fatigue measure uses a maximum of 7 questions to assess fatigue symptoms over the past 7 days. Subjects respond to each question (e.g. How often did you feel tired?) with the following scale: 1. = never 2. = rarely 3. = sometimes 4. = often 5. = always Raw scores are converted to T-scores, which are standardized to a mean of 50. Scores above 50 indicate higher than average fatigue; scores below 50 indicate lower than average fatigue.

Time frame: 8 months

The PTSD Symptom Severity Interview (PSSI) is a 17-question interview that measures the severity of PTSD symptoms in the past month. The interviewing researcher asks the subject to respond to each question (e.g. Have you had recurrent or intrusive distressing thoughts or recollections about the trauma?) by indicating how often per week he or she experiences that symptom. For each item, not at all is scored as 0; once per week or less/a little is scored as 1; 2 to 4 times per week/somewhat is scored as 2; and 5 or more times per week/very much is scored as 3. Total scores range from a minimum of 17 to a maximum of 51; the higher the score, the worse the outcome.

Time frame: 2 months

The PTSD Symptom Severity Interview (PSSI) is a 17-question interview that measures the severity of PTSD symptoms in the past month. The interviewing researcher asks the subject to respond to each question (e.g. Have you had recurrent or intrusive distressing thoughts or recollections about the trauma?) by indicating how often per week he or she experiences that symptom. For each item, not at all is scored as 0; once per week or less/a little is scored as 1; 2 to 4 times per week/somewhat is scored as 2; and 5 or more times per week/very much is scored as 3. Total scores range from a minimum of 17 to a maximum of 51; the higher the score, the worse the outcome.

Time frame: 8 months