title: Assessment of fatigue in a large series of 1492 Brazilian patients with Spondyloarthritis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of the present study was to analyze the score of fatigue in a large cohort of Brazilian patients with SpA, comparing different disease patterns and its association with demographic and disease-specific variables.
  
  
  METHODS
  A common protocol of investigation was prospectively applied to 1492 Brazilian patients classified as SpA according to the European Spondyloarthropathies Study Group (ESSG) criteria, attended at 29 reference centers. Clinical and demographic variables were recorded. Fatigue was evaluated using the first item of the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean BASDAI fatigue score was 4.20 ± 2.99. There was no significant difference in the fatigue score between the different SpA. Fatigue was higher in female patients (p < 0.001), with mixed (axial + peripheral) involvement (p < 0.001) and in those who did not practice exercises (p < 0.001). Higher scores of fatigue were significantly associated with inflammatory low back pain (p = 0.013), alternating buttock pain (p = 0.001), cervical pain (p = 0.001), and hip involvement (p = 0.005). Fatigue presented a moderate positive statistical correlation with Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI) (0.469; p < 0.001) and Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life (0.462; p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this large series of Brazilian SpA patients, higher fatigue scores were associated with female gender, sedentary, worse functionality, and quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Santa Casa do Rio de Janeiro.
authors.forename: Washington A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.forename: Fernanda R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Elias
authors.forename: Sueli
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carneiro
authors.forename: Adriana B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Bortoluzzo
authors.forename: Célio R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.forename: José Antonio Braga
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.forename: Antonio Carlos
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Ximenes
authors.forename: Manoel B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Bértolo
authors.forename: Sandra L E
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Keiserman
authors.forename: Thelma L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Skare
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Menin
authors.forename: Valderílio F
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: Azevedo
authors.forename: Walber P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.forename: Elisa N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Albuquerque
authors.forename: Rubens
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bonfiglioli
authors.forename: Cristiano
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Campanholo
authors.forename: Hellen M S
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: Izaias P
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Angela P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Duarte
authors.forename: Charles L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Kohem
authors.forename: Nocy H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Leite
authors.forename: Sonia A L
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: Eduardo S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Meirelles
authors.forename: Ivânio A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Marcelo M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Pinheiro
authors.forename: Elizandra
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Polito
authors.forename: Gustavo G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Resende
authors.forename: Francisco Airton C
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.forename: Mittermayer B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Santiago
authors.forename: Maria de Fátima L C
authors.initials: Mde F
authors.lastname: Sauma
authors.forename: Valéria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Valim
authors.forename: Percival D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Sampaio-Barros
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D015444:Exercise; D005221:Fatigue / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D025241:Spondylarthritis / Q000150:complications*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D063189:Symptom Assessment
keywords: Disease activity; Fatigue; Quality of life; Spondyloarthritis