Gastroenterol Nurs. 2022 Jan-Feb 01;45(1):21-28. doi: 10.1097/SGA.0000000000000600.

Kendra J Kamp ^{1 2 3 4 5}, Kindra Clark-Snustad ^{1 2 3 4 5}, Mitra Barahimi ^{1 2 3 4 5}, Scott Lee ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Author information

¹Kendra J. Kamp, PhD, RN, is a post-doctoral fellow at Division of Gastroenterology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

²Kindra Clark-Snustad, DNP, ARNP, is a teaching associate at Division of Gastroenterology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

³Mitra Barahimi, MD, is a clinical assistant professor at Division of Gastroenterology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

⁴Scott Lee, MD, is an associate professor at Division of Gastroenterology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.

⁵Kindra Clark-Snustad has served as a consultant for Pfizer. Scott D. Lee has received grant support from AbbVie, UCB Pharma, Janssen, Salix, Takeda, Calgene, Arena, and AbGenomics and has served as a consultant for UCB Pharma, Cornerstones Health, Janssen, Eli Lilly and Company, Celgene, KCRN Research, LLC, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Applied Molecular Transport, Arena, Celltrion Healthcare, Samsung Bioepis Co, and Bridge Biotherapeutics. The other authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Abstract

Fatigue is a prevalent symptom among individuals with inflammatory bowel disease. Yet, few studies have examined the relationship between fatigue and endoscopic disease activity. A retrospective chart review was conducted to determine the prevalence of fatigue based on endoscopic inflammation and clinical disease activity and describe the factors associated with fatigue among adults with inflammatory bowel disease. One hundred sixty patients were included. The majority had Crohn disease (72.5%), with an average age of 40.5 years. Sixty-one percent reported fatigue. Both endoscopic (p = .03) and clinical disease activities (p = .001) were significantly associated with fatigue. Among participants reporting fatigue, 52% had inactive disease and 48% had active disease based on endoscopy whereas 63% reported clinically active disease and 37% reported clinically inactive disease. In the multivariate regression model, clinical disease activity (odds ratio [OR] = 8.5; 95% CI [3.9, 18.6]) and anxiety (OR = 2.8; 95% CI [1.0, 7.6]) were significantly associated with fatigue. The prevalence of fatigue is high among individuals with active and inactive disease. Clinical disease activity and anxiety, but not endoscopic disease activity, were associated with fatigue.