This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Lerdal, A Articles by Moum, T Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Lerdal, A Articles by Moum, T Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Multiple Sclerosis Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Fatigue and its association with sociodemographic variables among multiple sclerosis patients

Buskerud University College, Drammen, Norway, Department of Behavioural Science in Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway, Anners.Lerdal{at}hibu.no

E G Celius

Department of Neurology, Ullevaal University Hospital, Oslo, Norway

T Moum

Department of Behavioural Science in Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway

Objective: To explore the relationship between fatigue, sociodemographic and clinical variables in a population of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Rationale: There is a need to identify empirical relationships with possible antecedents of fatigue among patients with MS. Methods: A mailed questionnaire designed to survey sociodemographic variables and the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) was mailed to 502 individuals from the population of patients with definite MS in the city of O slo. A total of 368 (73%) responded. C linical data were collected from the O slo C ity MS-Registry. Results: The prevalence of fatigue in this population was 60.1%. The FSS score showed a negative correlation with education (r =-0.15, P <0.01) and a positive correlation with age (r =0.20, P B-0.001) and time since disease onset (r =0.11, P B-0.05). When controlled for gender, level of education and time since disease onset, the data showed a positive relationship between fatigue and age (P B-0.001) among patients with primary progressive (PP) disease. This relationship between age and fatigue was not found among patients with relapsing-remitting/secondary progressive (RR/SP) disease. Conclusion: The negative relationship between level of formal educatio n (FE) and fatigue among individuals with RR/SP disease suggests that behavioral factors may be among the antecedents of fatigue in this patient group. In contrast to normative data from the general population, our findings revealed no differences in fatigue related to gender. Thus, this study supports the hypothesis that there are disease-specific antecedents of fatigue among patients with MS.

Key Words: demographic variables • etiology • fatigue • multiple sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis, Vol. 9, No. 5, 509-514 (2003)
DOI: 10.1191/1352458503ms943oa


CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E Patrick, C Christodoulou, L. Krupp, and on behalf of the New York State MS Consortium Longitudinal correlates of fatigue in multiple sclerosis Multiple Sclerosis, February 1, 2009; 15(2): 258 - 261. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S Johansson, C Ytterberg, K Gottberg, L Widen Holmqvist, and L von Koch Use of health services in people with multiple sclerosis with and without fatigue Multiple Sclerosis, January 1, 2009; 15(1): 88 - 95. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S Johansson, C Ytterberg, J Hillert, L W. Holmqvist, and L von Koch A longitudinal study of variations in and predictors of fatigue in multiple sclerosis J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, April 1, 2008; 79(4): 454 - 457. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Kos, E. Kerckhofs, G. Nagels, M.B. D'hooghe, and S. Ilsbroukx Origin of Fatigue in Multiple Sclerosis: Review of the Literature Neurorehabil Neural Repair, February 1, 2008; 22(1): 91 - 100. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R.A. Marrie and M. Goldman Validity of performance scales for disability assessment in multiple sclerosis Multiple Sclerosis, November 1, 2007; 13(9): 1176 - 1182. [Abstract] [PDF]

				R. A. Marrie, G. Cutter, T. Tyry, O. Hadjimichael, D. Campagnolo, and T. Vollmer Validation of the NARCOMS Registry: fatigue assessment Multiple Sclerosis, October 1, 2005; 11(5): 583 - 584. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. Lerdal, A. K. Wahl, T. Rustoen, B. R. Hanestad, and T. Moum Fatigue in the general population: A translation and test of the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the fatigue severity scale Scand J Public Health, March 1, 2005; 33(2): 123 - 130. [Abstract] [PDF]

				D Kos, E Kerckhofs, I Carrea, R Verza, M Ramos, and J Jansa Evaluation of the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale in four different European countries Multiple Sclerosis, February 1, 2005; 11(1): 76 - 80. [Abstract] [PDF]