Symptom Management Poster Presentation

P1090 - Differences in correlates of fatigue between relapsing and progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (ID 1564)

Speakers
  • T. Herring
Authors
  • T. Herring
  • K. Alschuler
  • L. Knowles
  • W. Morean
  • K. Phillips
  • A. Turner
  • D. Ehde
Presentation Number
P1090
Presentation Topic
Symptom Management

Abstract

Background

Fatigue is one of the most prevalent and impactful symptoms for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). MS fatigue can have detrimental effects on activities of daily living, employment, and quality of life. An inadequate number of studies have explored the extent to which fatigue and fatigue-related outcomes differ by MS disease course.

Objectives

To compare fatigue severity and fatigue interference, as well as identify common and unique demographic and clinical risk factors for fatigue severity and fatigue interference in persons with progressive MS compared to individuals with RRMS.

Methods

Participants were 573 community dwelling individuals with MS. The main outcome measures were fatigue severity and fatigue interference. T-test and chi-square analyses were used to compare group differences and multiple regression analyses were used to examine the extent to which the association of risk factors with fatigue severity and interference are moderated by MS subtype.

Results

There were no group differences between persons with progressive MS and RRMS in average fatigue severity or fatigue interference. Results also revealed there were no common risk factors between persons with progressive MS and RRMS. Longer MS disease duration was associated with lower average fatigue severity [b = -0.082, t(529) = -3.637, p < .001] for persons with progressive MS compared to persons with RRMS [b = -0.025, t(529) = -1.900, p = .058]. Having a college degree or higher was associated with higher fatigue interference in persons with progressive MS [b = 2.90, t(520) =2.28, p = .023] compared to persons with RRMS [b =-0.17, t(520) = -0.22, p = .825].

Conclusions

Contrary to previous research, in this sample, there were no group differences between persons with progressive MS and RRMS in average fatigue severity or fatigue interference. Given the similarity between fatigue and its correlates for both progressive and relapsing forms of MS, future research should consider if the interventions that work for fatigue management in people with relapsing forms of MS work similarly for people with progressive forms of MS.

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