title: Fatigue in sarcoidosis and exercise tolerance, dyspnea, and quality of life.
abstract: Fatigue is one of the major symptoms reported by sarcoidosis patients. The relationship between fatigue and clinical course of sarcoidosis remains unclear. The aim of the study was to evaluate the relationship between fatigue and lung function tests, exercise tolerance, dyspnea, and quality of life among sarcoidosis patients. One hundred eleven sarcoidosis patients completed the following questionnaires: Fatigue and Assessment Scale (FAS), Quality of Life Scale (SF-36), and dyspnea scales: Medical Research Council Questionnaire, Baseline Dyspnea Index, and Oxygen Cost Diagram. Clinical parameters (FVC, FEV1, DLCO, VO2, and VO2/AT, and work load) were derived from the patients' medical files. The exercise tolerance was the only clinical parameter associated with fatigue (Max. Work Load -0.65, VO2 -0.42, VO2/AT -0.51). No correlations were found between FAS and spirometry or diffusing tolerance. Fatigue correlated with all dyspnea domains by means of (r values ranging from 0.47 to 0.77 in multivariate regression analysis) and with quality of life in SF-36 questionnaire (r values ranging from -0.33 to -0.83). We conclude that FAS seems a reliable and valid indicator of dyspnea level, quality of life, and exercise tolerance in sarcoidosis patients.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine with the Division of Dentistry, Department of Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis, Medical University of Silesia, 41-803, 1 Koziolka St., Zabrze, Poland, darekjdr@poczta.onet.pl.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jastrzębski
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ziora
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lubecki
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zieleźnik
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maksymiak
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hanzel
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Początek
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kolczyńska
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nguyen Thi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zebrowska
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kozielski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017079:Exercise Tolerance; D005221:Fatigue / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D011788:Quality of Life; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology