8th Annual BMRP Investigator Meeting - Abstract
Factors Determining the Severity of Fatigue and the Feasibility of Fatigue Management in Crohn’s Disease Patients
Lauran Vogelaar1,b, Adriaan van’t Spijker2, Zuzana Zelinkova1, Ernst J. Kuipers1 and Christien J. van der Woude1,a
Departments of 1Gastroenterology & Hepatology and 2Psychology, Erasmus MC (Rotterdam, The Netherlands)
Crohn’s disease (CD) patients (pts) suffer from a disabling disease which negatively influences the quality of life. Fatigue is a common symptom in CD pts and contributes to the decreased quality of life.
Firstly, we aimed to assess the frequency of fatigue in our outpatient population. Secondly, to determine which factors influenced fatigue and thirdly we performed a pilot study to assess the feasibility of psychological interventions in these patients.
Of 400 pts who were invited, 300 returned the questionnaires and 68% of these pts had fatigue. Factors influencing fatigue were: sex (female), disease activity, the presence of anxiety and depression and previous side–effects of corticosteroids.
A short course of psychological therapy was feasible and led to less fatigue and improvement of quality of life in these pts.
aPrincipal Investigator; bCo-Investigator and Presenter