Purpose
The purpose of this study was to describe fatigue and the relationships among fatigue
intensity, self-reported functional status, and quality of life in older adults with
stable heart failure.
Methods
A descriptive, correlational design was used to collect quantitative data with reliable
and valid instruments. Fifty-three eligible volunteers completed a questionnaire during
an interview. Those with recent changes in their medical regimen, other fatigue-inducing
illnesses, and isolated diastolic dysfunction were excluded.
Results
Fatigue intensity (Profile of Mood States fatigue subscale) was associated with lower
quality of life, perceived health, and satisfaction with life. Fatigue was common,
and no relationship was found between fatigue intensity and self-reported functional
status. Marital status was the only independent predictor of fatigue.
Conclusions
In stable heart failure, fatigue is a persistent symptom. Clinicians need to ask patients
about fatigue and assess the impact on quality of life. Self-reported functional status
cannot serve as a proxy measure for fatigue.
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Heart & Lung: The Journal of Cardiopulmonary and Acute CareAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- The clinical implications of cognitive impairment in elderly patients with chronic heart failure.J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2001; 16: 47-55
- Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics: 2006 Update.American Heart Association, Dallas, TX2006
- Cardiac failure: symptoms and functional status.J Psychosom Res. 1991; 35: 399-407
- A telephone survey to measure communication, education, self-management, and health status for patients with heart failure: the Improving Chronic Illness Care Evaluation (ICICE).J Card Fail. 2005; 11: 36-42
- Correlates of fatigue in older women with heart failure.Heart Lung. 1995; 24: 512-518
- Daily physical activity levels in congestive heart failure.Am J Cardiol. 1993; 71: 921-925
- Fatigue associated with congestive heart failure: use of Levine’s Conservation Model.J Adv Nurs. 1993; 18: 260-268
- Fatigued elderly patients with chronic heart failure: do patient reports and nurse recordings correspond?.Int J Nurs Terminol Classif. 2002; 13: 127-136
- Gender differences in the health related quality of life of older adults with heart failure.Heart Lung. 2003; 32: 320-327
- Impact of symptom prevalence and symptom burden on quality of life in patients with heart failure.Eur J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2005; 4: 198-206
- Fatigue in chronic heart failure—does gender make a difference?.Eur J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2002; 1: 77-82
- A description of fatigue associated with congestive heart failure: use of Levine’s Conservation Model.in: Parker M. Nursing Theory in Practice. National League for Nursing, New York1990: 217-237
- Living with stage III heart failure: Dissertation Abstracts International. Doctoral dissertation.The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.2004
- Fatigue and the cancer experience: the state of the knowledge.Oncol Nurs Forum. 1994; 21: 23-36
- Fatigue in chronic disease.Clin Sci. 2000; 99: 1-8
- Fatigue in patients with cancer.Oncol Nurs Forum. 2002; 29: 537-546
- Defining and measuring fatigue.Image J Nurs Sch. 1999; 31: 45-50
- Psychometric testing of fatigue instruments for use with cancer patients.Nurs Res. 2000; 49: 181-190
- Advancing the science of symptom management.J Adv Nurs. 2001; 33: 668-676
- A model for symptom management.Image J Nurs Sch. 1994; 26: 272-276
- Dyspnea and fatigue.Nurs Clin North Am. 1993; 28: 373-384
- Psychological factors influencing the reporting of physical symptoms.in: Stone A.A. The Science of Self-Report. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, Mahwah, NJ2000: 299-315
- Impact of symptoms and aging attribution on emotions and coping.Health Psychol. 1987; 6: 495-514
- A Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire for the assessment of organic brain deficit in elderly patients.J Am Geriatr Soc. 1975; 23: 33-41
- EdiITS manual for the Profile of Mood States.EdITS/Educational and Industrial Testing Service, San Diego, CA1992
- Functional status, mood disturbance and quality of life in patients with heart failure.Prog Cardiovasc Nurs. 1994; 9: 22-32
- Visual analogue scales: measurement of subjective phenomena.Nurs Res. 1989; 38: 286-288
- Symptom Checklist.1991 (Available from L. M. Nail, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR)
- Associations between fatigue attributions and fatigue, health, and psychosocial work characteristics: a study among employees visiting a physician with fatigue.Occup Environ Med. 2003; 60: i99-i104
- Quality of life in patients with advanced heart failure.J Heart Lung Transplant. 1992; 11: 273-279
- Mood disturbance in patients with recurrent ventricular dysrhythmia before insertion of implantable cardioverter defibrillator.Heart Lung. 1996; 25: 253-261
- Assessment of patient outcome with the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure questionnaire: reliability and validity during a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of pimobendan.Am Heart J. 1992; 124: 1017-1025
- The Satisfaction with Life Scale.J Pers Assess. 1985; 49: 71-75
- Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales.J Pers Soc Psychol. 1988; 54: 1063-1070
- Statistical Package for the Social Sciences [computer program].SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL1997
- Activity questionnaires; a useful tool in accessing heart failure patients.Int J Cardiol. 2005; 105: 294-299
- Age-related differences in perceived fatigue in persons receiving treatment for cancer.1997 (Paper presented at: Western Institute of Nursing, Portland, OR)
- Symptom cluster research: conceptual, design, measurement, and analysis issues.J Pain Symptom Manage. 2006; 31: 85-95
- Older adults’ symptoms and their duration before hospitalization for heart failure.Heart Lung. 1997; 26: 169-176
- The epidemiology of self-perceived fatigue among adults.Prev Med. 1986; 15: 74-81
- Marital status, quality of life, and clinical outcome in patients with heart failure.Heart Lung. 2006; 35: 3-8
- Correlates of psychological distress in elderly patients with congestive heart failure.J Psychosom Res. 2004; 57: 573-581
- Predicting mortality and hospitalization in 5,025 patients with heart failure utilizing baseline quality of life.Congest Heart Fail. 1998; 4: 31-37
Article info
Footnotes
Funding for this study came from the National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, postdoctoral and predoctoral fellowships, 5 T32 NR007061-15 (Judith Kendall, Principal Investigator) Risk Assessment and Intervention Research, Oregon Health and Science University, and 5 T32 NR 007071-04 (Karin Kirchhoff, Principal Investigator) Research Training in Nursing Intervention, University of Utah.
Identification
Copyright
© 2008 Mosby, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
