Abstract
Fatigue is a common condition contributing to disability among older patients. We studied self-reported task-specific fatigue and its relation with mobility task performance among community-dwelling primary care patients. Cross-sectional analysis of baseline demographic and health data from a prospective cohort study of 430 primary care patients aged 65 years or older. Fatigue was measured using the Avlund Mobility-Tiredness Scale. Performance tasks included rising from a chair, walking 4 m, and climbing two flights of stairs. Among demographic and health factors, pain was the only attribute consistently predictive of fatigue status. Self-reported chair rise fatigue and walking fatigue were associated with specific task performance. Stair climb fatigue was not associated with stair climb time. Pain is strongly associated with fatigue while rising from a chair, walking indoors, and climbing stairs. This study supports the validity of self-reported chair rise fatigue and walking fatigue as individual test items.
Highlights
Fatigue is an important indicator of health among older populations worldwide
Exclusion criteria included participants with a terminal disease, major surgery or myocardial infarction in the past 6 months, planned major surgery, major medical problem that would interfere with a safe testing experience, planned move from the Boston area in the 2 years, Mini–Mental State Examination (MMSE) score
Stair climb fatigue was associated with gender, body mass index (BMI), level of education, number of co-morbidities, physical activity, depressive symptoms, and pain severity
Summary
Fatigue is an important indicator of health among older populations worldwide. It is associated with long-term functional decline (Avlund, Pedersen, & Schroll, 2003; Glynn et al, 2015), disability (Avlund, Damsgaard, SakariRantala, Laukkanen, & Schroll, 2002; Avlund, Rantanen, & Schroll, 2006; Avlund, Vass, & Hendriksen, 2003; Fieo, Mortensen, Rantanen, & Avlund, 2013; Schultz-Larsen & Avlund, 2007), various health indicators (such as oral health) (Avlund, Holm-Pedersen, & Schroll, 2001; Ekmann, Petersen, Manty, Christensen, & Avlund, 2013; Manty, Ekmann, Thinggaard, Christensen, & Avlund, 2012), and mortality (Avlund, Schultz-Larsen, & Davidsen, 1998; Schultz-Larsen & Avlund, 2007). Despite fatigue’s well-established predictive association with indicators of health among elders, the pathway from fatigue to disablement is still poorly understood, prompting a request by the National Institute of Aging for research on fatigability among older populations. It is a summary scale that evaluates fatigue associated with six different mobility tasks
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