Abstract:
OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of fatigue in the general population and the factors associated with fatigue.
DESIGN: Postal survey.
SETTING: Six general practices in southern England.
SUBJECTS: 31,651 men and women aged 18-45 years registered with the practices.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Responses to the 12 item general health questionnaire and a fatigue questionnaire which included self reported measures of duration, severity, and causes of fatigue.
RESULTS: 15,283 valid questionnaires were returned, giving a response rate of 48.3%, (64% after adjustment for inaccuracies in the practice registers). 2798 (18.3%) of respondents reported substantial fatigue lasting six months or longer. Fatigue and psychological morbidity were moderately correlated (r = 0.62). Women were more likely to complain of fatigue than men, even after adjustment for psychological distress. The commonest cited reasons for fatigue were psychosocial (40% of patients). Of 2798 patients with excessive tiredness, only 38 (1.4%) attributed this to the chronic fatigue syndrome.
CONCLUSION: Fatigue is distributed as a continuous variable in the community and is closely associated with psychological morbidity.
Comment in:
Patients with a self diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis. [BMJ. 1995]
Twists in the tale of impossible means. The reviewer shows that the gremlins might have attacked on several fronts. [BMJ. 2000]
Twists in the tale of impossible means. In which a copy of the original manuscript is found safe in Norway. [BMJ. 2000]
Fatigue and psychological distress. Statistics are improbable. [BMJ. 2000]
Source: Pawlikowska T, Chalder T, Hirsch SR, Wallace P, Wright DJ, Wessely SC. Population based study of fatigue and psychological distress. BMJ. 1994 Mar 19;308(6931):763-6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2539651/
You can read the full article here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2539651/pdf/bmj00432-0041.pdf