Incidence of maintenance hemodialysis patients with fatigue and its related factors

Objective To investigate the incidence of fatigue in maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients and its related factors. Methods A total of 289 patients on MHD between January 2016 and March 2017 in hemodialysis centers of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Xinjiang Yili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture Friendship Hospital, and Yili Prefecture Hospital were enrolled. Internationally standard fatigue rating scale (FAI) was applied to assess the incidence of fatigue in MHD patients, and subjective comprehensive nutrition assessment (SGA) protein energy wasting rating scale was used to assess protein energy wasting (PEW) conditions. All patients were divided into the fatigue group and the non-fatigue group according to the FAI score. The clinical data and the blood biochemical indicators in two groups were compared. The risk factors of fatigue in MHD patients were analyzed by logistic regression method. Results The incidence of fatigue was 83.0% in MHD patients, and the rate of PEW was 62.6%. Blood total cholesterol in the fatigue group was lower than that of the non-fatigue group (P＜0.05). The difference between SGA scores of two groups had statistical significance (P＜0.001). Single factor logistic regression analysis results showed that higher SGA score (OR=1.312, 95%CI: 1.163-1.481, P＜0.001), lower blood total cholesterol (OR=0.661, 95%CI: 0.496-0.880, P=0.005) were risk factors of fatigue in MHD patients. Multivariable logistic regression analysis results showed that higher SGA score (OR=5.286, 95%CI: 2.078-13.442, P＜0.001) was an independent risk factor of fatigue in MHD patients. Conclusions The incidence of fatigue and PEW are high in MHD patients. PEW is an independent risk factor of fatigue in MHD patients.