Effects of acute fatigue on the outcome of aged patients with initial cerebral infarction

Objective To investigate the effects of acute fatigue on the outcome of aged patients with cerebral infarction. Methods The Fatigue Severity Scale was used to investigate the incidence of fatigue in 240 elderly patients with acute cerebral infarction, to assess the outcome of the patients at discharge and one year after discharge, and to analyze the effect of acute fatigue on the functional recovery and survival of patients. Results Totally 89 patients (37.1%) suffered from acute fatigue.Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that high admission NIHSS score(OR=2.472, 95%CI= 1.931-3.164)and acute post-stroke fatigue(OR=4.820, 95%CI=2.281~10.187)were the influencing factors for functional recovery of elderly patients with cerebral infarction at discharge(P<0.01). High admission NIHSS score(OR=1.674, 95%CI=1.411-1.985), acute post-stroke fatigue(OR=2.123, 95%CI=1.187-3.796), mRS score≥ 2 at discharge(OR=9.822, 95%CI=4.899-19.693)and recurrence(OR=6.146, 95%CI=2.596-14.553)were independent risk factors for functional recovery of elderly patients with cerebral infarction one year after discharge (P<0.05). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that age (OR=1.096, 95%CI=1.027-1.169), post-stroke fatigue in acute phase OR=5.233, 95%CI=1.051-6.053)and recurrence(OR=13.983, 95%CI=2.821-49.307)were independent predictors of mortality for elderly patients with cerebral infarction (P<0.05). Conclusion Fatigue after acute stroke can effect the functional recovery and survival of elderly patients with cerebral infarction. Key words: Post-stroke fatigue; Acute phase; Cerebral infarction; Outcome