Patient factors related to the presentation of fatigue complaints: Resultsfrom a women's general health care practice

The aim of this study was to examine which patient-related factors predicte d: (1) fatigue, (2) the intention to discuss fatigue and (3) the actual dis cussion of fatigue during consultation with a GP in a women's general healt h care practice. Patients were asked to complete two questionnaires: one be fore and one after consultation. The patient-related factors included: soci al-demographic characteristics; fatigue characteristics; absence of cogniti ve representations of fatigue; nature of the requests for consultation; and other complaints. Some 74% of the 155 respondents reported fatigue. Compar ed to the patients that were not fatigued, the fatigued patients were more frequently employed outside the home, had higher Levels of general fatigue, and a higher need For emotional support from their doctor. A minority (12% ) intended to discuss fatigue during consultation. Of the respondents retur ning the second questionnaire (n = 107), 22% reported actually discussing t heir fatigue with the GP while only 11% had intended to do so. Tn addition to the intention to discuss fatigue during consultation, the following vari ables related to actually discussing fatigue: living alone, caring for youn g children, higher levels of general fatigue, absence of cognitions with re gard to the duration of the fatigue, and greater psychological, neurologica l! digestive, and/or musculoskeletal problems as the reason for consultatio n. Fatigue was found to be the single reason for consultation in only one c ase. It is concluded that fatigue does nut constitute a serious problem for most patients and that discussion of fatigue with the GP tends to depend o n the occurrence of other psychological or physical problems and the patien t's social context.