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. 2021 Nov 12;11(1):22153.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-01617-4.

Fatigue after acquired brain injury impacts health-related quality of life: an exploratory cohort study

Elisabeth Åkerlund  1   2   3 , Katharina S Sunnerhagen  4   5 , Hanna C Persson  4
Affiliations

Fatigue after acquired brain injury impacts health-related quality of life: an exploratory cohort study

Elisabeth Åkerlund et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the consequences of fatigue, fatigability, cognitive and executive functioning, and emotional state on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a clinical group of outpatients after acquired brain injury (ABI). This cross-sectional retrospective study included assessing outpatients at a rehabilitation clinic with WAIS-III working memory and coding subtests, and self-rating scales (Fatigue Impact Scale, Dysexecutive Questionnaire, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the dimension of health-related quality of life from EQ-5D-3L). The predictive variables were investigated using a binary logistic regression with HRQoL as the dependent variable. Descriptive statistics and correlations were analyzed. Participants reported a lower than average HRQoL (95%), fatigue (90%), and executive dysfunction (75%). Fatigue had a significant impact and explained 20-33% of the variance in HRQoL with a moderate significance on depression (p = 0.579) and executive dysfunction (p = 0.555). Cognitive and executive function and emotional state showed no association with HRQoL. A lower HRQoL, as well as fatigue and cognitive and executive dysfunctions, are common after ABI, with fatigue is a partial explanation of a lower HRQoL.

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Conflict of interest statement

The study was financed by grants from the Swedish state under the agreement of the Swedish government and the county councils, the ALF agreement 71980. The authors declare no competing interests with respect to financial and non-financial interests, research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the study participants.
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