Fatigue

Abstract

Fatigue in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with inflammation, pain, disability, sleep, depression, and health beliefs, implying complex, multicausal pathways comprising differing combinations of variables. From a patient perspective, it is a common, overwhelming, and distressing symptom. From a societal perspective, fatigue is a significant predictor of high healthcare costs and the main reason for work disability and loss. This chapter will highlight the role of patients in establishing the importance of the symptom, including the proposal that it should be measured in studies of RA whenever possible. Acknowledgement of fatigue as a patient priority is a relatively recent development, and highlights the value of collaborating with patients in shaping the research agenda. There will be discussion of the scale of fatigue in RA, including data on prevalence and descriptions of its nature and impact. Research has established the unpredictable and unearned nature of RA-related fatigue with its physical, cognitive, and emotional components, and identified the associated individual and societal burden. This will be followed by conceptual models informing our understanding of the biology of rheumatoid arthritis-related fatigue, the role of bioinformatics, and the challenges of unravelling the mechanisms of this multidimensional symptom. Finally, the evidence for interventions and treatments to alleviate fatigue will be presented, with a focus on non-pharmacological approaches to support fatigue self-management.