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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666354621000697
Brain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health
Available online 21 May 2021, 100266
In Press, Journal Pre-proof
Review
Dissecting the fatigue experience: a scoping review of fatigue definitions, dimensions, and measures in non-oncologic medical conditions
Author links open overlay panelRuelBillonesPhD1#Josephine K.LiwangBS1#KierraButlerBS1LetitiaGravesPhD, RN1Leorey N.SaliganPhD, RN, CRNP, FAAN1
1
National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
Received 21 January 2021, Revised 29 April 2021, Accepted 3 May 2021, Available online 21 May 2021.
Highlights
•
The 27 different validated clinical measures used to assess fatigue and its dimensions. Twenty instruments assessed the physical fatigue dimension, 8 for mental fatigue, 7 for cognitive fatigue, 5 for motivational fatigue, 2 for emotional fatigue, 1 for peripheral fatigue, 1 for central fatigue, and 1 for psychosocial fatigue
•
Physical fatigue was the most measured dimension, as assessed in 42 of 47 included articles. Using an example taken from an included article, physical fatigue was described as a “debilitating physical exhaustion or a distressing lack of energy not relieved by sleep or rest” (Norton et al., 2015). Physical fatigue was also “characterized by muscle fatigability, which was defined as the difficulty to initiate or sustain muscle activities” (Elsais et al., 2013)
•
This review affirms that fatigue is a multidimensional construct, agnostic of medical condition, and that individual fatigue dimensions can be measured by validated clinical measures;
Abstract
Introduction
Fatigue is a prevalent and potentially debilitating symptom that impacts the health-related quality-of-life of individuals diagnosed with acute and chronic medical conditions. Yet, its etiologic mechanism is not fully understood. Additionally, the assessment and determination of the clinical meaning of fatigue and its multidimensionality may vary by medical condition.
Methods
A scoping literature review was conducted to investigate how fatigue is defined and measured, including its dimensions, in non-oncologic medical conditions. The PubMed database was searched using keywords.
Results
Overall, 8376 articles were screened at the title/abstract levels, where 293 articles were chosen for full-text review that mentioned fatigue or included fatigue measures. The review of the full text excluded 246 articles that did not assess at least one fatigue dimension using validated questionnaires and clinical tests. The final set included 47 articles. Physical fatigue was the most assessed fatigue dimension and the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory was the most widely used questionnaire to assess fatigue in this review.
Limitations
This review was limited by including only English-language publications and using PubMed as the sole database for the search.
Conclusions
This review affirms that fatigue is a multidimensional construct, agnostic of medical condition, and that individual fatigue dimensions can be measured by validated clinical measures. Future research should focus on expanding the repertoire of clinical measures to assess specific fatigue dimensions.
Keywords
fatigue
fatigue dimension
fatigue assessment
clinical measure
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666354621000697
Brain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health
Available online 21 May 2021, 100266
In Press, Journal Pre-proof
Review
Dissecting the fatigue experience: a scoping review of fatigue definitions, dimensions, and measures in non-oncologic medical conditions
Author links open overlay panelRuelBillonesPhD1#Josephine K.LiwangBS1#KierraButlerBS1LetitiaGravesPhD, RN1Leorey N.SaliganPhD, RN, CRNP, FAAN1
1
National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
Received 21 January 2021, Revised 29 April 2021, Accepted 3 May 2021, Available online 21 May 2021.
Highlights
•
The 27 different validated clinical measures used to assess fatigue and its dimensions. Twenty instruments assessed the physical fatigue dimension, 8 for mental fatigue, 7 for cognitive fatigue, 5 for motivational fatigue, 2 for emotional fatigue, 1 for peripheral fatigue, 1 for central fatigue, and 1 for psychosocial fatigue
•
Physical fatigue was the most measured dimension, as assessed in 42 of 47 included articles. Using an example taken from an included article, physical fatigue was described as a “debilitating physical exhaustion or a distressing lack of energy not relieved by sleep or rest” (Norton et al., 2015). Physical fatigue was also “characterized by muscle fatigability, which was defined as the difficulty to initiate or sustain muscle activities” (Elsais et al., 2013)
•
This review affirms that fatigue is a multidimensional construct, agnostic of medical condition, and that individual fatigue dimensions can be measured by validated clinical measures;
Abstract
Introduction
Fatigue is a prevalent and potentially debilitating symptom that impacts the health-related quality-of-life of individuals diagnosed with acute and chronic medical conditions. Yet, its etiologic mechanism is not fully understood. Additionally, the assessment and determination of the clinical meaning of fatigue and its multidimensionality may vary by medical condition.
Methods
A scoping literature review was conducted to investigate how fatigue is defined and measured, including its dimensions, in non-oncologic medical conditions. The PubMed database was searched using keywords.
Results
Overall, 8376 articles were screened at the title/abstract levels, where 293 articles were chosen for full-text review that mentioned fatigue or included fatigue measures. The review of the full text excluded 246 articles that did not assess at least one fatigue dimension using validated questionnaires and clinical tests. The final set included 47 articles. Physical fatigue was the most assessed fatigue dimension and the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory was the most widely used questionnaire to assess fatigue in this review.
Limitations
This review was limited by including only English-language publications and using PubMed as the sole database for the search.
Conclusions
This review affirms that fatigue is a multidimensional construct, agnostic of medical condition, and that individual fatigue dimensions can be measured by validated clinical measures. Future research should focus on expanding the repertoire of clinical measures to assess specific fatigue dimensions.
Keywords
fatigue
fatigue dimension
fatigue assessment
clinical measure
