Factors Associated With Fatigue Among Geriatric Patients

Background: Fatigue is a complex phenomenon that is poorly discovered and treated in geriatric patients. It has a negative impact on physical, emotional and social aspects of older adult'slife. Objective: This study aims to determine the factors associated with fatigue among geriatric patients. Settings: The study was carried out in geriatric outpatient clinic at Alexandria Main University Hospital, Egypt. Subjects: A convenient sample of 220 geriatric patients aged 60 years and above and able to communicate. Tools: four tools namely; socio-demographic and clinical data structured interview schedule, the FACIT fatigue scale, geriatric depression scale short-form and mini-cognitive scale(mini-cog) were used to collect the necessary data. Results: About 53.6% of the studied geriatric patients had fatigue. There was a significant relation between fatigue, level of depression, cognitive function, some types of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer and neurological disorders such as stroke and Parkinson’s disease, also medications such as cardiovascular, anti-inflammatory and over-the-counter medications, presence of hearing or visual problems, last year hospitalization. Conclusion: fatigue was prevalent among half of the study subjects, especially among those who were young-old, had low income, socially isolated, depressed, had hearing or visual deficits, cognitive impairment and using over-the-counter medications. Recommendations: Gerontological nurses should design educational sessions for geriatric patients and their families to increase their awareness regarding fatigue and its associated factors and how to deal with.