Fatigue in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis

August 17, 2023 updated by: Yasin Demir, Gaziler Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Education and Research Hospital

Fatigue and Related Factors in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a disease characterized by autoimmune systemic inflammatory polyarthritis, particularly affecting the joints of the hands. In addition to joint findings, extra-articular symptoms such as muscle pain, fatigue, fever and malaise are also common.

Fatigue is characterized by a feeling of extreme tiredness and persistent exhaustion. The prevalence of fatigue is between 14% and 15% in healthy adults. Although fatigue is common in patients with RA, it may remain in the background in clinical evaluation. The etiology of fatigue in RA is related to inflammation, pain, psychosocial factors and sleep disturbance, it has not been fully explained.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a disease characterized by autoimmune systemic inflammatory polyarthritis, particularly affecting the joints of the hands. In addition to joint findings, extra-articular symptoms such as muscle pain, fatigue, fever and malaise are also common.

Fatigue is characterized by a feeling of extreme tiredness and persistent exhaustion. The prevalence of fatigue is between 14% and 15% in healthy adults. Although fatigue is common in patients with RA, it may remain in the background in clinical evaluation. The etiology of fatigue in RA is related to inflammation, pain, psychosocial factors and sleep disturbance, it has not been fully explained.

There are various studies in the literature examining fatigue and factors associated with fatigue in patients with RA. This study aimed to contribute to the literature by determining the relationship of fatigue with physical function, pain values at rest and in motion, gender, age, pain, disease activity, gender and disease duration in RA patients.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

141

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Turkey
      • Ankara, Turkey
        • Ankara Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients (38 males, 103 females) over 16 years of age who were diagnosed with RA according to the 2002 ACR-EULAR RA criteria.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age between 16-85 years
  • Patients diagnosed with RA according to 2002 ACR-EULAR RA criteria.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Malignancy
  • Neurological disease
  • Major psychiatric disorder
  • Thyroid disease
  • Anemia and hypovitaminosis

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)
Time Frame: through study completion, an average of one month
Pain levels were evaluated with Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) (0 = no pain and 10 = the worst pain you can imagine) in motion and at rest.
through study completion, an average of one month
Disease Activity Score-28 (DAS28)
Time Frame: through study completion, an average of one month
Disease activity was assessed with the Disease Activity Score-28 (DAS28). Since the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis are very diverse, the DAS 28 scale, which evaluates disease activity in a combination of many parameters and has validity, was developed. DAS28 score below 3.2 is considered as low disease activity, between 3.2 and 5.1 as moderate disease activity, and above 5.1 as high disease activity. According to ACR criteria, a score below 2.6 is considered remission.
through study completion, an average of one month
Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ)
Time Frame: through study completion, an average of one month
Physical functioning and health-related quality of life were assessed with the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ). The HAQ is approved by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) for the assessment of physical function in rheumatoid arthritis. HAQ questions are given a score of 0 if the respondent can do them without any difficulty, 1 if they have some difficulty, 2 if they have a lot of difficulty and 3 if they cannot do them at all. The highest (worst) score in each domain is considered as the score of that domain. The HAQ score is obtained by summing the scores of the domains and dividing the total score by eight. If the HAQ score is 0-1, it is considered as mild-moderate disability, 1-2: moderate-severe disability, 2-3: severe-very severe disability.
through study completion, an average of one month
Fatigue Symptom Inventory (FSI).
Time Frame: through study completion, an average of one month
Fatigue was assessed with the Fatigue Symptom Inventory (FSI). It is a scale consisting of 14 questions in total. The FSI assesses maximum, minimum, average and current levels of fatigue over the past week on an 11-point scale (0: not tired at all, 10: extremely tired).
through study completion, an average of one month

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Gaziler Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Education and Research Hospital

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Gizem Kılınç Kamacı, MD, specialist

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

June 1, 2014

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 10, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 10, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

August 18, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 22, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 17, 2023

Last Verified

August 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 40

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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