RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Fatigue in sarcoidosis; effect on quality of life and health status
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP PA835
DO 10.1183/13993003.congress-2015.PA835
VO 46
IS suppl 59
A1 Chris Atkins
A1 Daniel Gilbert
A1 Claire Brockwell
A1 Sue Robinson
A1 Andrew Wilson
YR 2015
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/46/suppl_59/PA835.abstract
AB Introduction: Fatigue is described as a core symptom of sarcoidosis. It can persist despite treating disease activity. Its effect on quality of life is less well understood.Aims: To investigate the frequency of fatigue (measured by the Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS)) occurring in sarcoidosis patients, its affect on quality of life, and factors determining fatigue severity.Methods: Questionnaires were administered to sarcoidosis patients attending our respiratory outpatients department. These included the FAS, EuroQoL 5D (EQ5D), Kings Brief Interstitial Lung Disease (K-BILD), St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS).Results: Seventy-six patients completed questionnaires. Thirty-five patients (50.7%) reported high levels of fatigue (FAS score greater than 21). Mean FAS scores were 24.7 (maximum score 50). Increasing fatigue was associated with worse health-related quality of life scores (EQ5D, K-BILD and SGRQ) shown in table 1. No association was seen between fatigue and markers of disease severity (FEV1, FVC, transfer factor, CXR score, immunosuppression use, extrapulmonary disease) or age, but there was moderate correlation with dyspnoea (co-efficient 0.523, p<0.001). View this table:Table 1 - Mean quality of life scores and standard deviation stratified by FASConclusions: Fatigue frequently occurs in sarcoidosis, affecting over half of patients. Increasing fatigue was associated with poorer quality of life scores. Measures of disease severity were not associated with fatigue, although dyspneoa did show positive correlation with this symptom.