Dionne Kessing 1 , Johan Denollet 1 , Jos Widdershoven 2 , Nina Kupper 3 . Show Affiliations »
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Fatigue is a debilitating and highly prevalent symptom in patients with chronic heart failure (HF) possibly complicating HF self-care behaviour which is crucial for maintaining health. AIMS: The purpose of this study was to examine whether general and exertion fatigue are distinctively associated with self-care in patients with chronic HF. METHODS: In total, 545 outpatients with chronic HF (mean age=66.2 years; 75% male) completed measures of general fatigue (i.e. a sustained sense of exhaustion including mental efforts), exertion fatigue (i.e. fatigue directly related to physical activity), sleep problems, mood symptoms and HF self-care behaviour at baseline, 12-, and 18-month follow-up. RESULTS: Linear mixed modelling results showed that general and exertion fatigue were significantly associated with poor HF self-care (estimate=0.10, p=0.004; estimate=0.06, p=0.01, respectively) and poor consulting behaviour (estimate=0.05, p=0.04; estimate=0.04, p=0.007, respectively) over time, independent of sleep and mood problems, and other clinical covariates. Exertion fatigue was associated with supplementary determinants. CONCLUSION: This is the first prospective study demonstrating that general and exertion fatigue were both associated with poor HF self-care, which could not be explained by sleep problems or mood symptoms, and was independent of clinical indicators of disease severity. Treatment of fatigue problems may improve HF self-care skills and ultimately quality of life and cardiovascular outcomes. Further research is needed to examine this potential causal relationship. © The European Society of Cardiology 2015.
BACKGROUND: Fatigue is a debilitating and highly prevalent symptom in patients with chronic heart failure (HF) possibly complicating HF self-care behaviour which is crucial for maintaining health. AIMS: The purpose of this study was to examine whether general and exertion fatigue are distinctively associated with self-care in patients with chronic HF. METHODS: In total, 545 outpatients with chronic HF (mean age=66.2 years; 75% male) completed measures of general fatigue (i.e. a sustained sense of exhaustion including mental efforts), exertion fatigue (i.e. fatigue directly related to physical activity), sleep problems, mood symptoms and HF self-care behaviour at baseline, 12-, and 18-month follow-up. RESULTS: Linear mixed modelling results showed that general and exertion fatigue were significantly associated with poor HF self-care (estimate=0.10, p=0.004; estimate=0.06, p=0.01, respectively) and poor consulting behaviour (estimate=0.05, p=0.04; estimate=0.04, p=0.007, respectively) over time, independent of sleep and mood problems, and other clinical covariates. Exertion fatigue was associated with supplementary determinants. CONCLUSION: This is the first prospective study demonstrating that general and exertion fatigue were both associated with poor HF self-care, which could not be explained by sleep problems or mood symptoms, and was independent of clinical indicators of disease severity. Treatment of fatigue problems may improve HF self-care skills and ultimately quality of life and cardiovascular outcomes. Further research is needed to examine this potential causal relationship. © The European Society of Cardiology 2015.
Entities: Chemical
Keywords:
Fatigue; compliance; depression; heart failure; self care; sleep
Mesh: See more »
Year: 2015
PMID: 25715645 DOI: 10.1177/1474515115575834
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Eur J Cardiovasc Nurs ISSN: 1474-5151 Impact factor: 3.908