The impact of fatigue on health related quality of life in adolescents with benign joint hypermobility syndrome

Benign Joint Hypermobility Syndrome (BJHS) is a major source of morbidity in children and adolescents. Due to fatigue and pain, activities of daily living may be limited. Aim of the work: To investigate the relationship between fatigue and health related quality of life in adolescents with BJHS. Patients and methods: Thirty adolescents with BJHS and 30 controls were enrolled in the study. All participants were subjected to clinical and laboratory assessment to exclude other causes of fatigue. All were requested to complete self assessment Pediatric Quality of Life (PedsQL) and multidimensional fatigue scale questionnaires. Pain was assessed by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Results: Compared to healthy adolescents, patients with BJHS had a significant lower total score for PedsQL scale (52.56 +/- 8.40 and 87.63 +/- 4.68 for patients and controls respectively, p < 0.001) and a significant lower total score for multidimensional fatigue scale (66.09 +/- 13.05 and 91.32 +/- 3.97 for patients and controls respectively, p < 0.001). General and cognitive fatigue that accompanied BJHS, were the only significant predictors of lower health related quality of life in patients' group. Among patients with BJHS; general fatigue was a significant predictor for emotional and social function impairment, while cognitive fatigue was a significant predictor for school function reduction. Total multidimensional fatigue scale score, general and cognitive fatigue were predictors of physical function impairment in patients and controls. VAS was highly correlated to PedsQL (r = -0.88, p = < 0.001) and multidimensional fatigue (r = -0.99, p = < 0.001) scales. Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of fatigue as a significant predictor of poor health related quality of life in adolescents with BJHS. (C) 2012 Egyptian Society for Joint Diseases and Arthritis. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.