Poster Session 09 Program Schedule
02/16/2024
03:30 pm - 04:45 pm
Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120)
Poster Session 09: Epilepsy | Oncology | MS | Infectious Disease
Final Abstract #71
Perceived Physical and Mental Fatigability in Aging With and Without Multiple Sclerosis
Di-Hua Luo, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, United States
Roee Holtzer, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, United States
Category: Multiple Sclerosis/ALS/Demyelinating Disorders
Keyword 1: fatigue
Keyword 2: multiple sclerosis
Objective:
Fatigue is one of the most common and debilitating symptoms seen in both Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and aging. Traditional perceived fatigue measurement methods often overlook individual differences in activity contexts, leading to inconsistent prevalence findings. Perceived fatigability, a more nuanced measure, aims to account for self-pacing bias by anchoring fatigue to specific activities with predetermined intensity and duration. Despite its potential, perceived fatigability is poorly understood in older adults with neurological conditions, including MS. This study thus aimed to (1) investigate whether, among older adults, the presence of MS was associated with worse perceived physical and mental fatigability; (2) evaluate whether, among older adults with MS, greater patient-reported disease-related disability was associated with worse perceived physical and mental fatigability.
Participants and Methods:
Participants were 96 older adults with a physician-confirmed diagnosis of MS (mean age in years: 64.6 ± 4.2) and 110 healthy controls (mean age in years: 68.2 ± 7.2) enrolled in an ongoing cohort study. Participants were deemed to be dementia-free based on established diagnostic clinical case conference procedures. Physical and mental fatigability were measured using the Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale, a 10-item questionnaire (score range: 0 to 50) designed to assess fatigue levels that individuals expect to feel after engaging in a range of activities commonly performed by older adults. MS disease severity was assessed with the Patient Determined Disease Steps (PDDS) scale, which ranges from 0 (normal) to 8 (bedridden). The PDDS score was dichotomized based on a median split of the MS sample, with scores of 2 or greater indicating worse disease-related disability. Separate linear regression models were performed to investigate associations between group status (MS vs. Control) as the predictor and perceived physical and mental fatigability scores as the outcome variables. Within the MS group, additional linear regression models were performed to explore the relationship between disease-related disability and fatigability levels. All models adjusted for age, sex, race, education, global health, general cognitive function, and depression scores.
Results:
Results from fully adjusted models revealed the following: 1) older adults with MS reported significantly higher levels of perceived physical fatigability (25.11 ± 9.67) compared to controls (17.95 ± 8.35) (p = 0.003), and 2) older adults with MS reported significantly higher levels of perceived mental fatigability (16.82 ± 11.79) compared to controls (9.15 ± 7.12) (p = 0.0025). Within the MS group, individuals with worse disease-related disability reported significantly greater levels of both physical (30.13 ± 7.71 vs. 18.67 ± 8.00, p < 0.001) and mental fatigability (20.31 ± 12.18 vs. 12.33 ± 9.69, p = 0.009).
Conclusions:
This study is the first to show that among older adults, the presence of MS was associated with higher levels of both physical and mental fatigability. Furthermore, within the MS group, greater disease-related disability was related to worse physical and mental fatigability. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the disablement process in this patient population.
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