RHPA Oral Abstracts

Aim: To objectively measure the fatigue experienced by children with Joint Hypermobility Syndrome (JHS) and compare that to published data of healthy children and those with other chronic diseases. Methods: Ninety-one children with JHS were recruited for this cross-sectional study. All children and their primary caregivers completed the PedsQL Multidimensional Fatigue Scale, an 18-item questionnaire with scores ranging from 0 to 100, previously validated in paediatric patients including those with rheumatological conditions. Cognitive, sleep/rest and general fatigue domains are included. Results: Forty boys and 51 girls aged 5–16 years (mean age 11.6 years) participated. The child-reported mean "worst pain" over the previous week was 53.7/100 (SD 34.7) using a 100 mm visual analogue scale. The number of child-reported painful joints ranged from 0 to 15 (mean 6.33, SD 3.86), with the knee being the most commonly reported painful joint. Child-reported and parent-reported individual domain and overall fatigue scores were highly and significantly correlated (r = 0.63–0.77, p < 0.001). Children with JHS demonstrated significantly lower (worse) fatigue scores in all domains than healthy controls (p < 0.001). Total fatigue was significantly worse than children with cancer, juvenile idiopathic arthritis and juvenile dermatomyositis (p < 0.001). However, fatigue experienced by children with JHS was similar to that of children with other chronic pain conditions (p = 0.024) and fibromyalgia (p = 0.36). Conclusions: This is the first study to quantify child and parent perceptions of the extent of fatigue experienced by children with JHS. Despite its previous title of Benign Joint Hypermobility Syndrome, the reported fatigue levels indicate that affected children are as impacted as those with recognised chronic pain conditions and more impacted than those with rheumatological conditions, justifying the abandonment of the fallacious term "benign".1 page(s