Acute fatigue syndrome and affecting factors in patients on hemodialysis due to chronic renal failure

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted in order to determine the existence and level of acute fatigue syndrome, and factors that affect fatigue in patients receiving hemodialysis treatment due to chronic renal failure (CRF). Material and Methods: The Brief Fatigue Inventory, which was developed at Anderson Cancer Center, was used to test for acute fatigue in 100 patients on hemodialysis due to CRF. The patients, who did not have any communication problem and agreed to participate in this study and received at least 1 day and at least 3 hours of hemodialysis treatment were selected by simple random sampling method and included in the study. Results: Fifty two percent of the patients receiving hemodialysis treatment due to CRF were men and 48% were women. Their average age was 49.23±15.27 years. Fifty three percent of the patients stated that they experienced severe fatigue and weakness during the last week, 41% stated they were experiencing a medium level of fatigue at that moment, while 46% stated that their general fatigue over the last 24 hours was of a moderate level. The difference between general fatigue levels and the lengths of treatment periods was found to be significant (p=0.012). In addition, the difference between general fatigue level and weekly hemodialysis application lengths due to renal failure was significant. General fatigue level was high in patients who received hemodialysis treatment 3 days/week and had had hemodialysis for 5-9 years (p=0.017). Conclusion: It is found that the vast majority of the patients experienced medium level fatigue. The fatigue of patients was found to be affected by age, educational status, treatment duration, frequency of hemodialysis and hemoglobin and ferritin levels. © 2012 by Türkiye Klinikleri.