Fatigue independently associated with disease activity in SLE

A recent study found that Fatigue and disease activity are independent factors as found using the Physician Global Assessment (PGA). The study was published in the journal RMD Open Rheumatic & Musculoskeletal Diseases. 

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease, showing a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations, having a relapsing-remitting course, and can affect various organs or systems. Fatigue is one of the challenging manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus. As it is not known if fatigue and disease activity are interdependent factors, researchers conducted a study to analyze if reported fatigue may bias the assessment of disease activity in SLE according to the Physician Global Assessment (PGA). 

Data were collected from patients from the Lupus BioBank of the upper Rhein database. A cross-sectional multicenter collection of detailed clinical and biological data was used. Participants had to fulfill the 1997 American College of Rheumatology criteria for SLE and the PGA (0–3 scale). Fatigue was assessed according to the Fatigue Scale for Motor and Cognitive Functions. Univariate and multivariate regression models were built to determine which variables were associated with the PGA.