The Impact of Fatigue on Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Although fatigue is recognized as a symptom of MS, there have been insufficient methods for evaluating this symptom. We administered the Fatigue Impact Scale to 85 MS patients and 20 hypertensive patients. Neurologic impairment, mental health, and general health status were also assessed. MS patient...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian journal of neurological sciences 1994-02, Vol.21 (1), p.9-14
Main Authors: Fisk, John D., Pontefract, Amanda, Ritvo, Paul G., Archibald, Catherine J., Murray, T.J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Affect - physiology
Aged
Biological and medical sciences
Fatigue - etiology
Fatigue - psychology
Female
Humans
Hypertension - complications
Hypertension - psychology
Male
Medical sciences
Mental Health
Middle Aged
Multiple Sclerosis - complications
Multiple Sclerosis - physiopathology
Multiple Sclerosis - psychology
Multiple sclerosis and variants. Guillain barré syndrome and other inflammatory polyneuropathies. Leukoencephalitis
Neurology
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Surveys and Questionnaires
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Summary:Although fatigue is recognized as a symptom of MS, there have been insufficient methods for evaluating this symptom. We administered the Fatigue Impact Scale to 85 MS patients and 20 hypertensive patients. Neurologic impairment, mental health, and general health status were also assessed. MS patients reported significantly higher fatigue impact than hypertensive patients. Most MS patients reported fatigue as either their worst (14%), or one of their worst (55%) symptoms. Disease classification and neurologic impairment had little bearing on Fatigue Impact Scale scores in the MS sample. The best predictive models for mental health and general health status in the MS sample both included the Fatigue Impact Scale as a significant factor. This study demonstrates that: 1) fatigue is a very prevalent and severe problem in MS, 2) fatigue impact cannot be predicted by clinical measures of neurologic impairment, 3) fatigue has a significant effect on the mental health and general health status of MS patients.
ISSN:0317-1671
2057-0155
DOI:10.1017/S0317167100048691