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Observational Study
. 2022 Dec;29(12):3564-3570.
doi: 10.1111/ene.15533. Epub 2022 Sep 12.

Long-term fatigue following aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage and the impact on employment

Ben Gaastra  1   2 , Harry Carmichael  1 , Ian Galea  1 , Diederik Bulters  2
Affiliations
Observational Study

Long-term fatigue following aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage and the impact on employment

Ben Gaastra et al. Eur J Neurol. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Background and purpose: Fatigue is common following aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH) but little is known about its frequency, prognosis and impact on employment. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of fatigue, whether it changes over time and the relationship to employment in the long term.

Methods: This was a retrospective observational study of aSAH cases and matched controls from the UK Biobank. The presence of fatigue was compared between cases and controls using the chi-squared test. The change in frequency over time was assessed using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. The effect of fatigue on employment was assessed using mediation analysis.

Results: Fatigue is more common following aSAH compared to matched controls (aSAH 18.7%; controls 13.7%; χ2 = 13.0, p < 0.001) at a mean follow-up of 123 months. Fatigue gradually improves over time with significant fatigue decreasing by 50% from ~20% in the first year to ~10% after a decade (p = 0.04). Fatigue significantly mediated 24.0% of the effect of aSAH status on employment.

Conclusions: Fatigue is common following aSAH and persists in the long term. It gradually improves over time but has a major impact on aSAH survivors, significantly contributing to unemployment following haemorrhage. Further work is required to develop treatments and management strategies for fatigue with a view to improving this symptom and consequently employment following aSAH.

Keywords: employment; fatigue; outcome; subarachnoid haemorrhage.

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Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
aSAH sample inclusion flowchart for UK Biobank
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Change in frequency of fatigue over time, divided into 12‐month bins. Data beyond 11 years were not included due to the sparsity of data in each annual bin
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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