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Fatigue in adults with Marfan syndrome, occurrence and associations to pain and other factors
Author(s) -
Bathen Trine,
Velvin Gry,
RandHendriksen Svend,
Robinson Hilde Stendal
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
american journal of medical genetics part a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.064
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1552-4833
pISSN - 1552-4825
DOI - 10.1002/ajmg.a.36574
Subject(s) - medicine , norwegian , chronic fatigue , physical therapy , marfan syndrome , chronic pain , population , rheumatoid arthritis , depression (economics) , chronic fatigue syndrome , linguistics , environmental health , economics , macroeconomics , philosophy
This study aims to investigate how fatigue affects adults with verified Marfan syndrome (MFS) in their daily lives, by examining fatigue levels and prevalence of severe fatigue compared to the general Norwegian population and individuals with other comparable chronic conditions. We investigated associations between socio‐demographic characteristics, Marfan‐related health problems, pain and fatigue. A cross‐sectional study was conducted, using a postal questionnaire including the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and questions on socio‐demographic characteristics, Marfan‐related health problems and pain. One hundred seventeen persons with MFS were invited to participate, 73 answered (62%). Participants reported significantly higher FSS scores and prevalence of severe fatigue compared to the general Norwegian population and patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but lower than for other chronic conditions. Participants with chronic pain reported higher fatigue scores than those without chronic pain. Participants on disability benefits reported higher fatigue scores than participants who were working or enrolled in higher education. Marfan‐related health problems like aortic dissection and use of blood pressure medication were not significantly associated with fatigue. In multivariable regression analyses chronic pain and employment status were significantly associated with fatigue. The final multivariable model explained 24% of the variance in fatigue scores. Our results show that fatigue is common in MFS patients and that it interferes with their daily lives. Chronic pain and employment status show significant associations to fatigue. This implies that fatigue is important to address when meeting MFS patients in clinical practice. There is need for more research on fatigue in Marfan syndrome. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.