OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of fatigue in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with that in healthy elderly people and to explore the suggestion that fatigue is an independent symptom of PD. DESIGN: Questionnaire survey. SETTING: Community-based population. PATIENTS AND CONTROL SUBJECTS: 233 patients derived from a prevalence study in the county of Rogaland, Norway and 100 healthy elderly people with the same age and sex distribution as the patients with PD. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: A score for fatigue was obtained by combining the results from the rating scale for low energy in the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) with the results obtained from a 7-point scale devised to evaluate fatigue. RESULTS: 44.2% of the patients with PD and 18% of the healthy elderly control subjects reported fatigue. Fatigue was associated with depression, dementia, disease severity, disease duration, levodopa dose, and the use of sleeping pills. In a multivariate analysis, only depressive symptoms reached statistical significance. The prevalence of fatigue in patients with PD who were not depressed, demented, or had a sleeping disturbance was similar to that found in the total PD population. CONCLUSION: Fatigue is a common symptom in PD. Although fatigue correlated with depressive symptoms, patients with PD who did not have depression, dementia, or sleep disturbances also reported a high prevalence of this symptom. This supports the hypothesis that fatigue is an independent symptom of PD overlapping with, but not causally related to, the concurrence of depressive symptoms.
OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of fatigue in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with that in healthy elderly people and to explore the suggestion that fatigue is an independent symptom of PD. DESIGN: Questionnaire survey. SETTING: Community-based population. PATIENTS AND CONTROL SUBJECTS: 233 patients derived from a prevalence study in the county of Rogaland, Norway and 100 healthy elderly people with the same age and sex distribution as the patients with PD. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: A score for fatigue was obtained by combining the results from the rating scale for low energy in the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) with the results obtained from a 7-point scale devised to evaluate fatigue. RESULTS: 44.2% of the patients with PD and 18% of the healthy elderly control subjects reported fatigue. Fatigue was associated with depression, dementia, disease severity, disease duration, levodopa dose, and the use of sleeping pills. In a multivariate analysis, only depressive symptoms reached statistical significance. The prevalence of fatigue in patients with PD who were not depressed, demented, or had a sleeping disturbance was similar to that found in the total PD population. CONCLUSION:Fatigue is a common symptom in PD. Although fatigue correlated with depressive symptoms, patients with PD who did not have depression, dementia, or sleep disturbances also reported a high prevalence of this symptom. This supports the hypothesis that fatigue is an independent symptom of PD overlapping with, but not causally related to, the concurrence of depressive symptoms.
Authors: Pablo Martinez-Martin; Maria Jose Catalan; Julian Benito-Leon; Angel Ortega Moreno; Ivana Zamarbide; Esther Cubo; Nadeje van Blercon; Victor Campos Arillo; Margarita Pondal; Gurutz Linazasoro; Fernando Alonso; Pedro García Ruiz; Belen Frades Journal: Qual Life Res Date: 2006-05 Impact factor: 4.147
Authors: Arlène D Speelman; Bart P van de Warrenburg; Marlies van Nimwegen; Giselle M Petzinger; Marten Munneke; Bastiaan R Bloem Journal: Nat Rev Neurol Date: 2011-07-12 Impact factor: 42.937
Authors: Matej Skorvanek; Iveta Nagyova; Jaroslav Rosenberger; Martina Krokavcova; Radka Ghorbani Saeedian; Johan W Groothoff; Zuzana Gdovinova; Jitse P van Dijk Journal: J Neurol Date: 2013-01-09 Impact factor: 4.849