The role of fatigue in adolescents’ chronic pain: A study on facets of fatigue in young patients with a chronic pain disorder

Fatigue has been proposed as a potential factor influencing the perception of pain, which could be pertinent for enhancing chronic pain treatment. Exploring the relationship between pain and fatigue during a 3-week inpatient interdisciplinary multimodal pain therapy program, we evaluated children and adolescents (11-18 years) who reported significant chronic pain. Assessment tools included the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory and other clinical questionnaires. The participants had higher fatigue scores than healthy subjects, general fatigue was found to be associated with the perception of pain in a random-effects model. The connection between fatigue and pain in adolescents with chronic pain suggests that the degree of fatigue and the changes in fatigue were associated with the intensity of their pain. The participants' (<i>N</i> = 94) dimensions of fatigue and the intensity of their pain were reduced. We discuss implications for fatigue-reducing treatments in chronic pain management to reduce pain and augment pain management skills.