title: Fatigue severity and factors associated with high fatigue levels in Korean patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Many patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) often complain of fatigue. To date, only a few studies in Western countries have focused on fatigue related to IBD, and fatigue has never been specifically studied in Asian IBD patients. The aim of the present study was to investigate the fatigue level and fatigue-related factors among Korean IBD patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients in remission or with mild to moderate IBD were included. Fatigue was assessed using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue and the Brief Fatigue Inventory. Corresponding healthy controls (HCs) also completed both fatigue questionnaires.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty patients with Crohn disease and 68 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) were eligible for analysis. The comparison group consisted of 92 HCs. Compared with the HCs, both IBD groups were associated with greater levels of fatigue (p<0.001). Factors influencing the fatigue score in UC patients included anemia and a high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Greater levels of fatigue were detected in Korean IBD patients compared with HCs. Anemia and ESR were determinants of fatigue in UC patients. Physicians need to be aware of fatigue as one of the important symptoms of IBD to better understand the impact of fatigue on health-related quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Suhyeon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Yoon Suk
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hong Joo
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Yong Kyun
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Chong Il
authors.initials: CI
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Woo Kyu
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Byung Ik
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong Il
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000150:complications* / Q000208:ethnology; D003424:Crohn Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000208:ethnology; D005221:Fatigue / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000208:ethnology
keywords: Colitis, ulcerative; Crohn disease; Fatigue; Inflammatory bowel diseases