Fatigue and physical activity in community-dwelling elderly and in Parkinson patients

Niphuis, E. (2012) Fatigue and physical activity in community-dwelling elderly and in Parkinson patients. thesis, Human Movement Sciences.

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Abstract

INTRODUCTION - Fatigue affects the quality of life of elderly in general and of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients in particular. Fatigue is supposed to be associated with physical activity, but so far the exact nature of this relation remains unclear. This crosssectional pilot study was performed to enhance insight into the relation between fatigue and physical activity while taking into account potentially influential factors like fatigability, physical fitness and sleep quality. METHODS - Fatigue was evaluated using the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory. Physical activity was measured 24 hours a day during one week using tri-axial accelerometry of the lower back. Physical fitness, sleep quality, and fatigability were also measured, using objective and subjective measuring instruments. RESULTS - A few associations were found between fatigue and physical activity. Elderly with lower levels of mental fatigue walked more (p < 0.05). In the PD patients this association was reverse (p < 0.05). PD patients with reduced activity were more sedentary. There were also several negative associations found between fatigue and physical fitness. (Timed Up & Go, p <0.05; BMI, p <0.05). No clear associations were found with sleep quality and fatigability. CONCLUSION - Firm conclusions on the relation between fatigue and physical activity cannot be drawn. However results indicate that elderly and PD patients with a better physical fitness have lower levels of fatigue. The role of fatigability in those relations remains unclear due to the lack of a valid and reliable fatigability field-test. Future research should address this.

Item Type:	Thesis (Thesis)
Supervisor name:	Supervisor: and Kamsma, Dr. Y.P.T. and Center for Human Movement Sciences and University of Groningen
Faculty:	Medical Sciences
Date Deposited:	25 Jun 2020 10:55
Last Modified:	25 Jun 2020 10:55
URI:	https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/1541

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