CoRPS, Department of Medical Psychology and Neuropsychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands.
J Psychosom Res. 2011 Dec;71(6):416-22. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2011.09.006. Epub 2011 Oct 21.
Fatigue is frequently reported in sarcoidosis and appears to differ between patients. Three types of fatigue (Early Morning Fatigue, Intermittent Fatigue, and Afternoon Fatigue) are described in the literature for sarcoidosis, but have not been validated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine whether these types of fatigue can be identified in sarcoidosis.
Outpatients (n=434) from Maastricht University Medical Centre participated in this study. Data were obtained from medical records. Patients also completed questionnaires regarding depressive symptoms, fatigue, quality of life, restless legs, dyspnea, depressive symptoms, anxiety, sleeping problems, symptoms indicative for small fiber neuropathy, and employment.
Latent Cluster Analysis revealed three clusters: 1) Mild Fatigue: patients with mild or no complaints of fatigue, 2) Intermittent Fatigue: patients with complaints of fatigue that varied during the day, and 3) All Day Fatigue: patients who felt tired the whole day. The three patient clusters differed regarding clinical, psychological, and demographical characteristics, with All Day Fatigue patients reporting the most complaints.
Intermittent fatigue was validated and two other types were found. Careful consideration to categorize patients with sarcoidosis in the three types of fatigue will help healthcare providers to understand the challenges these patients encounter. The usefulness of psychological counseling should be evaluated in future research in order to improve the wellbeing of the patients, especially for those with All Day Fatigue.
结节病常伴有疲劳症状，且不同患者的疲劳表现可能存在差异。文献中描述了结节病患者存在三种类型的疲劳（晨乏、间歇性疲劳和午后疲劳），但尚未得到验证。因此，本研究旨在探讨这些类型的疲劳是否能在结节病患者中被识别。
来自马斯特里赫特大学医学中心的门诊患者（n=434）参与了本研究。数据来自病历。患者还完成了关于抑郁症状、疲劳、生活质量、不宁腿、呼吸困难、抑郁症状、焦虑、睡眠问题、小纤维神经病症状和就业情况的问卷。
潜在聚类分析显示有三个聚类：1）轻度疲劳：患者有轻度或无疲劳症状；2）间歇性疲劳：患者的疲劳症状在一天中变化；3）整日疲劳：患者整天感到疲倦。这三个患者聚类在临床、心理和人口统计学特征方面存在差异，整日疲劳患者的抱怨最多。
验证了间歇性疲劳，并发现了另外两种类型。仔细考虑将结节病患者分为三种类型的疲劳，将有助于医疗保健提供者了解这些患者所面临的挑战。未来的研究应评估心理辅导的有效性，以改善患者的幸福感，尤其是对那些整日疲劳的患者。
