Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Amsterdam Public Health research institute, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Sci Rep. 2020 Mar 5;10(1):4167. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-61076-1.
Fatigue related to Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is considered a multidimensional symptom, manifesting in several dimensions such as physical, cognitive, and psychosocial fatigue. This study investigated in 264 patients with severe primary MS-related fatigue (median MS duration 6.8 years, mean age 48.1 years, 75% women) whether subgroups can be distinguished based on these dimensions. Subsequently, we tested whether MS-related fatigue consists of a single common unidimensional factor. Subscale scores on four self-reported fatigue questionnaires, including the Checklist of Individual Strength, the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale, the Fatigue Severity Scale and the SF36 vitality, were used in a cluster analysis to identify patients with similar fatigue characteristics. Next, all 54 items were included in exploratory factor analysis to test unidimensionality. Study results show that in patients with a treatment indication for primary MS-related fatigue, fatigue profiles are based on severity and not on the various dimensions of fatigue. The three profiles found, suggested one underlying fatigue dimension, but this could not be confirmed. Factor analysis of all 54 items resulted in 8 factors, confirming the multidimensional construct of the included fatigue questionnaires.
多发性硬化症（MS）相关的疲劳被认为是一种多维症状，表现在身体、认知和心理社会等多个维度上。本研究在 264 名患有严重原发性 MS 相关疲劳的患者（中位 MS 病程 6.8 年，平均年龄 48.1 岁，75%为女性）中，探讨了是否可以根据这些维度来区分亚组。随后，我们测试了 MS 相关疲劳是否由一个单一的共同维度因素组成。使用四个自我报告的疲劳问卷的子量表评分，包括个体力量检查表、改良疲劳影响量表、疲劳严重程度量表和 SF36 活力量表，进行聚类分析以识别具有相似疲劳特征的患者。接下来，将所有 54 个项目纳入探索性因素分析，以测试单维性。研究结果表明，在有原发性 MS 相关疲劳治疗指征的患者中，疲劳特征基于严重程度，而不是基于疲劳的各个维度。发现的三个特征表明存在一个潜在的疲劳维度，但这一点无法得到证实。对所有 54 个项目的因子分析产生了 8 个因子，证实了所包含的疲劳问卷的多维结构。
