Fatigue Affects Nearly Half of Adults With IBD

An estimated 47% of adults with inflammatory bowel disease experience fatigue, suggest findings from a systematic review and meta-analysis published online ahead of print in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

“Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic relapsing and remitting disease with high morbidity, substantial healthcare costs, and increasing incidence,” researchers wrote. “Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms that impacts quality of life and is a leading concern for patients with IBD.”

The systematic review and meta-analysis included 20 studies that were assessed to be of good quality.

Overall, the pooled prevalence of fatigue was 47%, although researchers reported high between-study heterogeneity. Furthermore, fatigue prevalence varied significantly with how fatigue was defined and with disease status: prevalence was 28% for “chronic” fatigue, 48% for “high” fatigue, 72% with active IBD, and 47% among patients in remission.

The most commonly reported risk factors for fatigue were sleep disturbance, anxiety, depression, and anemia.

“The high prevalence of fatigue in IBD highlights the need for the development of targeted therapies,” researchers advised, “and standardized definitions and approaches to fatigue management.”

—Jolynn Tumolo

Reference

D'Silva A, Fox DE, Nasser Y, et al. Prevalence and risk factors for fatigue in adults with inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol.

Published online ahead of print, June 30, 2021. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cgh.2021.06.034