title: The Course of Fatigue during the First 18 Months after First-Ever Stroke: A Longitudinal Study.
abstract: Background. Little is known about the course of poststroke fatigue. Objectives. To describe the course of poststroke fatigue in relation to the patient's level of physical functioning, depressive symptoms, and self-reported history of prestroke fatigue. Methods. A longitudinal study using structured face-to-face interviews, questionnaires, and patients' medical records. Data were collected from 95 patients in Norway with first-ever stroke. Fatigue was measured with the Fatigue Severity Scale 7 item version and assessed for change between the acute phase, six, 12, and 18 months after stroke using 2-way ANOVA repeated-measures analyses. Results. The patients' level of fatigue did not change over time. However, those who reported prestroke fatigue showed a relatively high level of fatigue over time in the poststroke period, while patients with no history of pre-stroke fatigue showed a stable course of relatively low fatigue over time. Conclusion. Studies on poststroke fatigue should control for the patient's pre-stroke fatigue level.
authors: Department of Research, Lovisenberg Diakonale Hospital, Lovisenberggt. 17, 0440 Oslo, Norway.
authors: Anners
authors: A
authors: Lerdal
authors: Kathryn A
authors: KA
authors: Lee
authors: Linda N
authors: LN
authors: Bakken
authors: Arnstein
authors: A
authors: Finset
authors: Hesook Suzie
authors: HS
authors: Kim