TY - JOUR T1 - Dimensions of fatigue in systemic lupus erythematosus: relationship to disease status and behavioral and psychosocial factors. JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol SP - 1282 LP - 1288 VL - 33 IS - 7 AU - Deborah Da Costa AU - Maria Dritsa AU - Sasha Bernatsky AU - Christian Pineau AU - Henri A Ménard AU - Kaberi Dasgupta AU - Anahita Keschani AU - Natalie Rippen AU - Ann E Clarke Y1 - 2006/07/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/33/7/1282.abstract N2 - OBJECTIVE: To characterize the experience of fatigue in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) using a multidimensional assessment and to delineate contributors to physical and mental dimensions of fatigue. METHODS: Fatigue in 130 women with SLE was assessed using the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20). Participants completed standardized questionnaires assessing sleep quality, depressed mood, social support, and leisure-time physical activity. A clinical examination determined disease activity, cumulative damage, and whether patients fulfilled American College of Rheumatology criteria for fibromyalgia (FM). A series of hierarchical multiple regressions were computed to identify contributors to physical and mental fatigue. RESULTS: Patients scored high on all 5 MFI-20 fatigue dimensions, with general fatigue and physical fatigue having the highest scores. A hierarchical multiple regression showed that greater disease damage and disease activity, the presence of FM, depressed mood, sleep disturbance, and less participation in leisure-time physical activity contributed to higher physical fatigue scores. The results of the second model found depressed mood to be the strongest determinant of mental fatigue. Disease-related variables were not associated with mental fatigue. CONCLUSION: Fatigue in SLE is multidimensional and multidetermined, with physical and mental aspects likely having different etiologies. A multidimensional assessment of fatigue in SLE is needed to tailor and optimize interventions aimed at alleviating fatigue. ER -