Article

Impact of fatigue on health-related quality of life
(HR-QOL) associated with spinal cord injury (SCI). DESIGN: Matched group design
with several independent measures. SETTING: University-based laboratory.
PARTICIPANTS: Persons with SCI (n=41) and an average 16.5 years duration of
community living with SCI and a group of able-bodied controls
(n=41) with similar
sex ratio, age, and level of education. Participants with SCI were enrolled
through rehabilitation unit contacts and through advertising in newsletters.
INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main independent
measures reported in this article include the Iowa Fatigue Scale and the Medical
Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey. RESULTS: As expected, persons
with SCI were found to have significantly lower HR-QOL. Fatigue was found to be
more prevalent in the SCI group, and was associated with lower HR-QOL in both
groups. Factorial analysis of variance indicated significant interactions in
which persons with SCI with low fatigue levels had similar HR-QOL to the
able-bodied controls regardless of their fatigue level, while persons with SCI
with elevated fatigue had significantly reduced HR-QOL. Factors such as age,
education, completeness and level of lesion, and community integration were not
associated with increased fatigue levels. However, a shorter time since injury
was found to be significantly associated with higher levels of fatigue.
CONCLUSIONS: The Iowa Fatigue Scale data suggest over 50% of the SCI group had
elevated fatigue, which was associated with significantly reduced HR-QOL.
Research is needed that identifies factors that raise vulnerability to fatigue,
and strategies designed to address the negative impacts of fatigue need to be
evaluated.
CI - Copyright (c) 2012 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS