Abstract

Vesile SENOL, Murat Hayri SIPAHIOGLU, Pelin NAR SENOL*, Mahmut ARGUN, AhmetOZTURK

Fatigue is a debilitating symptom in patients with end-stage renal disease. This study was aimed to determine the level and correlates of physical and also mental fatigue symptoms in addition to its effect on health related quality of life (HRQoL) in hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study involving 318 patients was conducted in three dialysis centers. Data were collected using the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), Short-Form 36, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX). Patient groups were identified as having fatigue (FSS >4.0), depressive (BDI ≥17) and having sexual dysfunction (SD) (ASEX ≥12). Fatigue prevalence was 71.6% in HD patients and 66.9% in PD patients. Depression prevalence was 43.7% and most of the depressive patients (87.8%) had fatigue. SD prevalence was 77.8% and 75.2% of them had fatigue. MCS and PCS scores were markedly lower in fatigued patients. FSS was correlated with BDI, PCS and MCS scores in both HD and PD patients. Fatigue was similarly frequent and severe in both types of dialysis groups and this seriously impaired HRQoL. Depression and physical HRQoL were the major predictors of fatigue in both groups.