The Comparison of Fatigue of the Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, and Fibromyalgia

류마티스 관절염.루프스.섬유조직염 환자의 피로 양상 비교

Almost all patients with rheumatic disease experience fatigue. The fatigue affects the patient's life extensively at home and at work, therefore it is necessary to investigate the nature of the fatigue which the patients perceive. The purpose of this study is to explore the nature and pattern of fatigue of the patients with rheumatic diseases. Rheumatoid arthritis is typical disease for its joint involvement which leads to deformity. Whereas lupus is a characteristic systemic autoimmune disease and the fibromyalgia is characterized by the general bodyache and multiple local tenderness. The prevalence of these diseases and the fatigue was known to be higher in women than men. Therefore the subjects were woman patient diagnosed as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus or fibromyalgia, and they were recruited from the H-Rheumatic Disease Hospital. The two instruments, the Multidimensional Assessment of Fatigue by Belza(1995) and the Piper Fatigue Scale by Piper, et al(1995) were used to explore the nature and pattern of self-reported fatigue. In total, the data from 157 patients were analysed by the SPSS-PC program for statistical analysis. The results were as follows: 1. Most patients with rheumatic disease experienced fatigue and the degree of fatigue was at the middle range by the scores of the two instruments. 2. The degree of fatigue of the patients with fibromyalgia was the highest and the next was that of the patients with lupus and the fatigue of the patients with rheumatoid arthritis. But there were no statistically significant differences among the patients with three rheumatic diseases, except the subcategory, the meaning of fatigue of the Piper Fatigue Scale. 3. Even when the period of the symptom and pain were covariated, there were no statistically significant differences among patients with three rheumatic diseases. The fatigue of the patients with lupus and fibromyalgia is rarely investigated in Korea and this study can be the base for the further understanding of the patients with rheumatic diseases. Therefore repeated studies are required to identify the factors to affect the fatigue and to understanding the nature of the diseases and to develop the nursing interventions to alleviate the fatigue.