title: Fatigue and its related factors in patients with chronic heart failure.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To understand fatigue in chronic heart failure patients and its related factors.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Fatigue is a common symptom in patients with chronic heart failure, but little is known about this phenomenon.
  
  
  METHODS
  Correlational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  This correlational study sampled 107 chronic heart failure patients from a medical centre in northern Taiwan. Data were collected on objective outcomes (ejection fraction, EF; New York Heart Association classification, NYHA; beta-blocker use and haemoglobin, Hb) and subjective outcomes (depression and fatigue). Since the main outcome variable, fatigue, is multidimensional, it was measured by two scales: Lee's Fatigue Visual Analog Scale and a researcher-developed scale, the Tang Fatigue Rating Scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Subjects experienced a medium level of fatigue. Fatigue was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in females (226.6 SD 49.1) than males (203.0 SD 52.2) and in patients who took beta-blockers than those who did not (p < 0.01). Depression, EF and NYHA as a set explained 73% of the variance in subjects' fatigue. Subjects with greater depression, lower EF and worse NYHA experienced significantly higher fatigue (F = 76.50, p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fatigue for this sample of chronic heart failure patients was significantly predicted by depression, EF and NYHA. Additional research is needed to explore patterns of fatigue and its related factors over time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In nursing care, psychological factors are as important as physiological factors to patients' well-being. Health care providers should therefore pay more attention to the psychological status of patients with chronic heart failure, thus helping them control their fatigue and improve their well-being.
authors.affiliation: Chang Gung University, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan. wtang@mail.cgu.edu.tw
authors.forename: Woung-Ru
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Chiung-Yao
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: San-Jou
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Yeh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003863:Depression; D005221:Fatigue / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008485:Medical Audit; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan