Background
Although highly prevalent among inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients, fatigue remains an unmet clinical need. The
Conclusion
Fatigue is observed in about half of IBD patients in remission and can be a symptom of underlying undetected depression. Sex, transferrin saturation and medication were identified as independent risk factors.
Methods
IBD patients in clinical and biochemical remission under treatment with immunomodulators or biologicals were included. Fatigue, physical tiredness and depression were assessed using the fatigue Visual Analogue Scale (fVAS), the Shortened Fatigue Questionnaire (SFQ) and the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self Report (QIDS-SR), respectively. Relevant clinical and biochemical parameters were included in regression analyses to identify factors associated with physical fatigue.
Results
In total, 157 IBD patients were included. Up to 45.9% of patients reported fatigue, physical tiredness was observed in 51% and depression in 10.8%. The majority of patients with subclinical depression were fatigued. Female sex (OR = 4.17 [1.55-6.78], p = 0.002) was independently associated with physical fatigue. Transferrin saturation (OR = -0.11 [-0.22--0.007], p = 0.037) and treatment with adalimumab (compared to infliximab, OR = -3.65 [-7.21--0.08], p = 0.045) entailed a lower risk of fatigue.