SpondyloarthropathiesFatigue in Ankylosing Spondylitis: Treatment Should Focus on Pain Management
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
Participants were people with AS, residing in Wales, UK, who were recruited into an AS cohort via their rheumatologist, general practitioner, or local AS patient support groups. The protocol for the development of the cohort has been published previously (20). Briefly, 572 patients were recruited between 2008 and 2011 and were sent questionnaires every 3 months.
Results
This analysis looks at the first 6 months of follow-up for the cohort. Of 572 cohort patients, 187 only completed 1 or 2 questionnaires (179 recently recruited, moved, or dropped out and 8 died) and so were not sent a fatigue questionnaire. This meant that 385 people were sent the questionnaire.
Discussion
This study confirms that fatigue is a major symptom of AS, with significant physical, social, and psychological effects. The findings suggest that measures to address fatigue in AS need to focus primarily on the pain rather than anxiety, physical activity, motivation, or sleep. Pain is the single factor examined that contributes most to explaining variation in fatigue. Depression had an effect on fatigue, although the contribution was relatively minor. Additionally, pain was associated with
Acknowledgments
This study was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Institute for Social Care and Health Research (NISCHR). We would like to thank all the people with ankylosing spondylitis who have participated in the study.
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Cited by (0)
The work was supported by a Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Social Care and Health Research Patient Research Cohort Initiative grant.
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.