A.A. Novik, T.I. Ionova, D.A. Fedorenko, A.A. Tsepkova, A.V. Kishtovich

Chronic fatigue in rheumatoid arthritis patients

The purpose of this study was to assess fatigue severity and frequency in rheumatoid arthritis patients and to examine the relationship of fatigue with disease-related variables.
A total of 142 patients with definite rheumatoid arthritis were included. BFI and numeric assessment scale were administered at the admission to hospital at acute disease phase. 60 - 85 % of patients had fatigue.
Fatigue in this study was associated with pain, sleep disorders, disease activity and duration, rheumatoid factor and systemic variables.
Implementation of fatigue assessment in clinical practice might lead to a better understanding of its nature and contribute to higher quality of medical care.