THE IMPACT OF FATIGUE ON PATIENTS WITH MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS

Although fatigue is recognized as a symptom of MS, there have been ins ufficient methods for evaluating this symptom. We administered the Fat igue Impact Scale to 85 MS patients and 20 hypertensive patients. Neur ologic impairment, mental health, and general health status were also assessed. MS patients reported significantly higher fatigue impact tha n hypertensive patients. Most MS patients reported fatigue as either t heir worst (14%), or one of their worst (55%) symptoms. Disease classi fication and neurologic impairment had little bearing on Fatigue Impac t Scale scores in the MS sample. The best predictive models for mental health and general health status in the MS sample both included the F atigue Impact Scale as a significant factor. This study demonstrates t hat: 1) fatigue is a very prevalent and severe problem in MS, 2) fatig ue impact cannot be predicted by clinical measures of neurologic impai rment, 3) fatigue has a significant effect on the mental health and ge neral health status of MS patients.