Fatigue assessment by FACIT-F scale in Pakistani cohort with Rheumatoid Arthritis (FAF-RA) study

Abstract

Objective: To fine out fatigue frequency and severity by FACIT-F scale in Pakistani cohort with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: This study was conducted at department of Medicine division of rheumatology CPMC Lahore. After the approval of IRB, 192 patients of RA were recruited. Written, informed consent was taken, demographic details were noted, patients filled the URDU version of FACIT-F (fatigue severity scale). 5-ml of blood was taken for fasting blood sugar, viral markers and ESR by a trained phlebotomist. Each individual’s disease activity was assessed by DAS-28 and FACIT-F score was calculated. Results: The Mean age (39.9±10.5) years, (71.9%) were females. Fatigue frequency was 62% (n=126), age, education, hypertension, DAS-28, exercise levels and HCV gives significant association with fatigue score. Linear regression analysis, results showed one unit increase in DAS-28 will gives 2.71 unit increases in fatigue scores(P <0.05). Conclusions: We have very high frequency of fatigue in RA, increases with disease activity & associated conditions. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.4.3602 How to cite this:Wagan AA, Raheem A, Bhatti A, Zafar T. Fatigue assessment by FACIT-F scale in Pakistani cohort with Rheumatoid Arthritis (FAF-RA) study. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(4):1025-1030. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.4.3602 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.