If you have arrived here from a search or from elsewhere on the site, you may not be sure which of the available tools is most relevant to you. This page is a brief guide to help you decide.
If your main concern is autonomic symptoms
If your main concern is autonomic symptoms (dizziness on standing, heart racing, temperature regulation problems, or gut dysfunction), start with the COMPASS-31. It is the most comprehensive autonomic symptom questionnaire available and gives you a structured, scored summary of symptom burden across six domains. It is particularly likely to be recognised by a specialist if you bring results to an appointment. It takes about 10 minutes.
If breathlessness is a significant symptom
The Nijmegen questionnaire screens for breathing pattern disorder and hyperventilation syndrome, a common and often underdiagnosed problem in post-viral conditions that can contribute to breathlessness, dizziness, brain fog, and chest tightness. It takes about 2 minutes.
If fatigue is dominating your life
The Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) measures how much fatigue is interfering with your daily functioning. It is widely used in ME/CFS and long COVID research and is useful for tracking whether your functional fatigue is changing over time. It takes about 2 minutes.
If you suspect ME/CFS, or your symptoms worsen after activity
The feature that most distinguishes ME/CFS from ordinary fatigue is post-exertional malaise: symptoms flaring in the hours or days after physical or mental effort. If that pattern sounds familiar, start with the DSQ-Brief, a 4-question screen that takes under two minutes. To look at the post-activity pattern in detail (triggers and recovery time), the DSQ-PEM takes about three minutes. For a thorough record to take to an appointment, the full DSQ-2 assesses symptoms across eight domains and screens your answers against the four major ME/CFS case definitions. It takes 10–15 minutes, and your progress is saved as you go.
→ DSQ-Brief (quick screen) · DSQ-PEM (post-exertional malaise) · DSQ-2 (full questionnaire)
If you want to check for excessive daytime sleepiness
The Epworth Sleepiness Scale measures your tendency to doze in everyday situations. Fatigue and sleepiness are not the same thing; a low ESS score alongside severe fatigue can be informative in itself. It takes about 2 minutes.
If you want to measure your functional capacity
Three tools at three levels of detail. The Bell CFIDS Disability Scale gives you a single score from 0 to 100 in under a minute, so it suits regular tracking. The Post-COVID-19 Functional Status scale grades the impact on your daily life from 0 to 4 via four quick questions; it is the standard measure in long COVID research. The FUNCAP questionnaire, developed by and for people with ME/CFS, profiles what 27 specific activities cost you. It is the most detailed of the three and the most useful for disability paperwork.
→ Bell scale (quickest) · PCFS (long COVID standard) · FUNCAP (most detailed)
If you suspect POTS or orthostatic intolerance
The NASA lean test guide walks you through an at-home standing test with a timer and heart rate logging. It is a practical way to gather objective data while waiting for formal autonomic testing, and the results can be useful to bring to appointments. To measure your POTS symptom burden over the past week, and track it over time, the Malmö POTS Symptom Score (MAPS) is the first score designed specifically for POTS. The two pair well: MAPS gives the subjective burden, the lean test the objective heart-rate data.
→ NASA lean test guide · Malmö POTS Symptom Score
If you want the big picture: quality of life and well-being
The RAND-36 (the same 36 items as the SF-36) measures health-related quality of life across eight scales. It is used in research across almost every condition, so your profile can be compared with published ME/CFS and long COVID cohorts. It takes 5–10 minutes and suits occasional use, every few months. The WHO-5 Well-Being Index is the opposite trade-off: five questions, under a minute, sensitive to change, and well suited to monthly tracking.
→ RAND-36 health survey · WHO-5 Well-Being Index
Using more than one
You can complete more than one. For someone with a post-viral condition, a reasonable starting set might be the COMPASS-31 (autonomic symptoms), the FSS (fatigue impact), and the NASA lean test (orthostatic heart rate). Together, these give a fairly rounded picture of the areas most commonly affected.