What Fatigue Means to Persons Living with Parkinson's Disease? A Qualitative Study.
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ABSTRACT: Background
Fatigue is one of the most prevalent non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). Research is hampered by imprecise terminology and the lack of case definition criteria.Objectives
To elicit the experiences of persons living with PD-related fatigue and provide ecological validation for case definition criteria.Methods
Qualitative interviews were conducted with 22 individuals and 4 focus groups, and analyzed using an inductive qualitative method.Results
Six core themes emerged: (i) difficulty initiating and completing important tasks; (ii) desire for others to understand their fatigue experience; (iii) heterogeneity of experiences and descriptions of fatigue; (iv) complex relationships with other non-motor symptoms; (v) variable self-management strategies; and (vi) general alignment with proposed case definition criteria.Conclusions
PD-related fatigue impacts function, is subjectively distinguishable from other non-motor symptoms, has heterogeneous descriptions, and may be mitigated by various self-management strategies. Proposed case definition criteria appear ecologically valid and warrant further optimization and testing.
SUBMITTER: George DD
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8354068 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
What Fatigue Means to Persons Living with Parkinson's Disease? A Qualitative Study.
George Derek D DD Baer Nicholas K NK Berliner Jean M JM Jones Jacqueline J Kluger Benzi M BM
Movement disorders clinical practice 20210707 6
<h4>Background</h4>Fatigue is one of the most prevalent non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). Research is hampered by imprecise terminology and the lack of case definition criteria.<h4>Objectives</h4>To elicit the experiences of persons living with PD-related fatigue and provide ecological validation for case definition criteria.<h4>Methods</h4>Qualitative interviews were conducted with 22 individuals and 4 focus groups, and analyzed using an inductive qualitative method.<h4>Results</h ...[more]
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