Assessment of fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-F) scale.

AIM: To assess fatigue severity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-F) scale and to examine its association with demographic, socioeconomic, clinical, and lifestyle-related factors.

METHODS

This cross-sectional observational study included 90 adults with RA. Fatigue was assessed using the FACIT-F scale, and disease activity was assessed using the Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28). Continuous variables were summarised as medians and interquartile ranges (IQRs). Associations were evaluated using Spearman correlation, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, and robust linear regression analyses.

RESULTS

The median FACIT-F score was 37.0 [IQR 27.0 - 45.0], and 35.6% of patients had moderate-to-severe fatigue. FACIT-F correlated negatively with DAS28 (ρ = -0.381; p < 0.001). In multivariable robust regression, DAS28 remained associated with FACIT-F score after adjustment for age and disease duration (β = -3.54; 95% confidence interval -5.39 to -1.68; p < 0.001), whereas age and disease duration were not significant. FACIT-F scores differed by sex and employment status but not by treatment category.

CONCLUSION

Fatigue is a prevalent and clinically important symptom in RA. Higher disease activity was associated with greater fatigue severity, supporting comprehensive assessment of fatigue beyond inflammatory disease activity alone.