Symptoms of Fatigue in Chronic Heart Failure Patients: Clinical and Psychological Predictors

OBJECTIVE: To examine the role of clinical and psychological characteristics as predictors of fatigue in CHF. BACKGROUND: Little is known about predictors of fatigue in CHF. Next to heart failure characteristics, depressive symptoms and type-D personality may explain individual differences in fatigue. METHODS: At baseline, 136 CHF outpatients (age<or=80 years) completed a questionnaire to assess depressive symptoms, type-D personality and cardiac symptoms. At one-year follow-up, they completed the Dutch Exertion Fatigue Scale and the Fatigue Assessment Scale to assess symptoms of fatigue. Medical information was obtained from the patients' medical records. RESULTS: Exertion fatigue and general fatigue were identified as different manifestations of fatigue. We found that exertion fatigue at 12-month follow-up was predicted by decreased exercise capacity (beta=-.35; p<.001), dyspnoea (beta=24; p=.002), hypertension (beta=.16; p=.03), and depressive symptoms (beta=.16; p=.05). In contrast, general fatigue at 12-month follow-up was predicted by dyspnoea (beta=.24; p=.003), depressive symptoms (beta=.27; p<.001), type-D personality (beta=17; p=.03), and sleep problems (beta=.20; p=.01). Together, these variables explained 32% and 37% of the variance, respectively. CONCLUSION: The present study showed that fatigue was related to both clinical and psychological characteristics. The use of this knowledge may lead to a better understanding and treatment of the clinical manifestations of fatigue in CHF.