Fatigue in men and women who have returned to work after stroke: Assessed with the Fatigue Severity Scale and Mental Fatigue Scale.
Anna Norlander, Ingrid Lindgren, Hélène Pessah-Rasmussen and 2 others
PMID 34383959WHAT IT FOUND
Women who returned to work after stroke reported significantly more fatigue than men.
Most men did not find that exercise worsened their fatigue, suggesting physical activity is not a common barrier to recovery for this group.
Key findings
01Women reported significantly higher total fatigue scores than men on both the Fatigue Severity Scale and the Mental Fatigue Scale.
02Only 10% of men and 33% of women agreed that exercise brought on their fatigue, indicating it is not a common cause for most.
03Using both the Fatigue Severity Scale and Mental Fatigue Scale together identified fatigue in a larger proportion of participants than either scale alone.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The response rate was 63%, which may introduce bias if non-responders differed from those who participated. The study excluded people with severe language or cognitive deficits, so findings do not apply to those groups. Participants mostly had mild to moderate disabilities and had returned to work, limiting generalizability to those with severe disabilities or who did not return to work. The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot determine causality or how fatigue changes over time.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that fatigue is solely a physical issue. The study highlights that mental fatigue, particularly sensitivity to stress and mental fatigability, is highly prevalent and may require different management strategies than physical fatigue.