Fatigue Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Fatigue, including details on chronic fatigue syndrome, exhaustion, causes, diagnosis.

Course of anxiety symptoms over an 18-month period in exhausted patients post percutaneous coronary intervention.

Pedersen SS, Smith OR, De Vries J, Appels A, Denollet J

Center of Research on Psychology in Somatic Diseases, Department of Medical Psychology, Tilburg University, Warandelaan 2, PO Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, Netherlands. s.s.pedersen@uvt.nl

OBJECTIVE: Anxiety is a neglected risk factor in coronary artery disease. We examined the different courses of anxiety over an 18-month period in patients post percutaneous coronary prevention (PCI) and the predictors of group membership of these courses. METHODS: Consecutive exhausted PCI patients (n = 638), participating in the EXhaustion Intervention Trial (EXIT), were assessed for depression at baseline using the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition and for symptoms of anxiety at baseline, 6, and 18 months using the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (state only). SAS procedure TRAJ was used to examine courses of anxiety symptoms over an 18-month period. RESULTS: Five trajectories were identified: nonanxious (13.2%), mildly anxious (39.7%), decreasingly anxious (11.6%), moderately anxious (29.3%), and severely anxious (6.3%), with four of them being stable over 18 months. Multinomial logistic regression analyses showed that angina pectoris, major depression, the use of anxiolytics, and low educational level distinguished moderate-to-severe anxious patients from nonanxious. The absence of angina and major depression and not using diuretics explained the decreasing trend in anxiety in one of the trajectories. CONCLUSIONS: Anxiety trajectories varied across patients, with four of five being stable over 18 months. In clinical practice, knowledge of these trajectories and their determinants may help identify distinct groups of patients with potentially differential risks of adverse health outcomes.

Published 14 April 2008 in Psychosom Med, 70(3): 349-55.
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Articles on Fatigue published 17 March 2008:

A longitudinal study of variations in and predictors of fatigue in multiple sclerosis.   J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 79(4): 454-7.

OBJECTIVES: To describe variations in fatigue over the course of 2 years in a sample of persons with multiple sclerosis (MS), and to investigate the predictive value of the following variables on variations in fatigue: sex, age, sense of coherence, living with a partner, living with children, work status, immunomodulatory treatment, mood, disease severity, disease course, time since diagnosis and time. METHODS: Every 6 months, 219 outpatients at an MS specialist clinic were assessed using the ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Fatigue published 12 March 2008:

Mast cells and cellularity of the colonic mucosa correlated with fatigue and depression in irritable bowel syndrome.   Gut, 57(4): 468-73.

BACKGROUND: A subset of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) have an increased number of mast cells (MCs) in the colonic mucosa. Psychological factors are believed to contribute to the course of IBS. AIMS: To examine associations between fatigue, depression and MCs of the colonic mucosa in IBS. METHODS: Colonic biopsies were taken from 50 Rome II IBS patients, 21 healthy controls and 11 depressed/fatigued patients without IBS. The cellularity of the lamina propria was determined as the ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Fatigue published 3 March 2008:

Pruritus and fatigue associated with liver disease: is there a role for ondansetron?   Expert Opin Pharmacother, 9(4): 645-51.

BACKGROUND: Complications of liver disease include pruritus and fatigue. Increased central opioidergic tone, which is modulated by serotoninergic pathways, contributes to the former; increased central serotoninergic tone may contribute to the latter. OBJECTIVE: To examine non-clinical and clinical data relevant to the hypothesis that ondansetron, a 5-HT(3) receptor subtype antagonist, ameliorates pruritus and fatigue in liver disease. METHODS: Non-clinical findings supporting the hypothesis are ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Fatigue published 25 February 2008:

Measuring fatigue in persons with spinal cord injury.   Arch Phys Med Rehabil, 89(3): 538-42.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). DESIGN: A 2-week methodologic study was conducted to assess the internal consistency, reliability, and construct validity of the FSS. SETTING: A tertiary spinal cord rehabilitation facility. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-eight community-living subjects at least 1 year post-SCI with American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) grade A or B SCI and no medical conditions causing ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Fatigue published 14 February 2008:

Gender differences in lower extremity landing mechanics caused by neuromuscular fatigue.   Am J Sports Med, 36(3): 554-65.

BACKGROUND: Neuromuscular fatigue has been suggested as an extrinsic factor in the mechanism of noncontact anterior cruciate ligament injury in both genders. PURPOSE: To determine and describe the lower extremity kinematic and kinetic differences caused by neuromuscular fatigue during drop landings and compare changes between age- and skill-matched male and female athletes. METHODS: Inverse dynamic solutions estimated lower extremity flexion-extension and varus-valgus kinematics and kinetics ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Fatigue published 12 February 2008:

Enhanced mood and psychomotor performance by a caffeine-containing energy capsule in fatigued individuals.   Exp Clin Psychopharmacol, 16(1): 13-21.

Caffeine produces mild psychostimulant effects that may be particularly evident in individuals whose mood or performance is impaired by sleep restriction or caffeine withdrawal. Caffeinated energy drinks have been shown to improve energy and cognition but expectancy effects cannot be ruled out in these studies. Very few studies have examined the effects of caffeine-containing energy capsules upon behavioral and subjective measures. This study compared the effects of a caffeine-containing (200 ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Fatigue published 8 February 2008:

Downregulated hypothalamic 5-HT3 receptor expression and enhanced 5-HT3 receptor antagonist-mediated improvement in fatigue-like behaviour in cholestatic rats.   Neurogastroenterol Motil, 20(3): 228-35.

The serotonin neurotransmitter system, including the 5-HT(3) receptor, has been implicated in the genesis of fatigue in patients with liver disease. Therefore, we examined the possible role of 5-HT(3) receptors in cholestasis-associated fatigue. Rats were either bile duct resected (BDR) or sham resected and studied 10 days postsurgery. A significant decrease in hypothalamic 5-HT(3) receptor expression was detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot in BDR vs sham rats, coupled with ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Fatigue published 1 February 2008:

A predictive model for fatigue and its etiologic associations in primary biliary cirrhosis.   Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol, 6(2): 228-33.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Excessive day-time somnolence and autonomic dysfunction are biological processes prevalent in Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC) that associate with fatigue. Here we explore how these biological associates inter-relate, and their cumulative impact upon typical clinical cohorts. METHODS: A predictive model for daytime hypersomnolence (Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS)) and autonomic dysfunction (Orthostatic Grading Scale (OGS)) was developed in a derivation cohort (n=124) and ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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