Dolphin
Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Research Article
Association between chronic fatigue and common cerebrovascular and neurodegenerative diseases: a prospective cohort study
Jiang Xu,
Daihai Mo
,
Yang Cai
,
Hongyao Lv
,
Minjing Wei
,
Yue Zhang
,
Fengyang Jing
,
Wenhui Wu
,
Xiaoyu Fang
,
Yanzhou Wang
&
Xiangyu Ma
show less
Received 30 Jan 2026, Accepted 28 Apr 2026, Published online: 16 Jun 2026
ABSTRACT
Background
Chronic fatigue (CF) is increasingly prevalent, yet its role as an independent risk factor for cerebrovascular and neurodegenerative diseases remains underexplored.Objective
This study aimed to prospectively assess the association between CF and the risks of Parkinson's disease (PD), Alzheimer's disease (AD), cerebral infarction (CI), and all-cause mortality (ACM).Methods
We utilized data from 167,098 UK Biobank participants (aged 40–69) with baseline information on CF (≥6 months). Cox proportional hazards models with three tiers of covariate adjustment (demographics, lifestyle, comorbidities) were used to examine associations with incident PD, AD, CI, and ACM. Fine-Gray competing risk models accounting for death were also employed for PD, AD, and CI.Results
CF was independently associated with significantly increased risks of PD (fully-adjusted HR = 3.02, 95% CI = 2.42–3.76, p < 0.0001), AD (HR = 1.68, 1.21–2.34, p = 0.002), CI (HR = 1.19, 1.02–1.39, p = 0.027), and ACM (HR = 1.86, 1.73–2.00, p < 0.0001). Competing risk analyses confirmed robustness (e.g. for PD: sHR = 2.97, p < 0.0001).Conclusions
Chronic fatigue is an independent risk factor for developing PD, AD, CI, and for ACM. Assessment of CF may help identify high-risk populations for targeted prevention.KEYWORDS: