The General Symptom Questionnaire-30 (GSQ-30): A Brief Measure of Multi-System Symptom Burden in Lyme Disease
[CanLyme Note: The term post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) referenced in this article is contentious as it implies treatment has eradicated the infectious Lyme disease borrelia bacteria. There is an abundance of evidence showing that the bacteria can survive recommended treatment periods. Many people do well with longer term treatment while others do not respond at all. Other limitations of the study are mentioned in the discussion section of the paper. ]
Introduction: The multi-system symptoms accompanying acute and post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome pose a challenge for time-limited assessment. The General Symptom Questionnaire (GSQ-30) was developed to fill the need for a brief patient-reported measure of multi-system symptom burden. In this study we assess the psychometric properties and sensitivity to change of the GSQ-30. …
I hope that Lyme organizations in Canada are rejecting this “psychometric” tool. The premise is faulty, as Lyme disease is Lyme disease, NOT a syndrome and “post” is also a faulty premise. If we legitimize this nonsense we perpetuate the false metrics and resulting false conclusions that they seek to demonstrate. We cannot support continued injustice to Lyme patients. If we do, we are the problem.