[Importance and factors related to chronic fatigue in multiple sclerosis].
BACKGROUND
The importance of fatigue in multiple sclerosis (MS) is determined by its high frequency and it is an important cause of disability.


OBJECTIVE
To determine factors that are related to the presence of chronic fatigue in patients with MS.


METHODS
The series comprises patients with MS, consecutively attended in the demyelinizating diseases unit, who met the following criteria: clinically definite MS (RR or SP), MS duration of more than two years, and no relapses during the previous month. Analyzed variables were as follows: chronic fatigue, demographic data, functional systems, EDSS, ISS, ESS, disease activity, Hamilton, depression scale GHQ-28, PSQI, and interferon. Statistical study: bivariate and multivariate analysis by logistic regression.


RESULTS
A hundred patients were included, 72 female and 28 male. Mean age was 39.27 years. Of the 100 patients 88 had RR disease and 12 SP disease. MS mean duration was 11.2 years. Mean EDSS 2.54. Chronic fatigue was 53 %. The presence of depression increased the probability of chronic fatigue 3.6 fold, and every point in PSQI-7 increases it 3.5 fold.


CONCLUSIONS
Depression and the PSQI-7 subscale (day sleep dysfunction) are the only variables independently related to chronic fatigue in patients with MS.
Alarcia
R
R
Unidad de Enfermedades Desmielinizantes, Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet, Zaragoza. lcarmen@comz.org
Ara
J R
JR
Martín
J
J
Bertol
V
V
Bestué
M
M
D000328:Adult; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D013223:Statistics as Topic