More Than Half of Mini-Stroke Patients Battle Long-Term Fatigue: Study Highlights - Video

New Delhi: A new study has found that people who have a transient ischemic attack, also known as a mini-stroke, may also have prolonged fatigue lasting up to one year. The study is published in Neurology. Transient ischemic stroke is typically defined as a temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain that causes symptoms that go away within a day. The study does not prove that mini-strokes cause lasting fatigue; it only shows an association.

The study involved 354 people with an average age of 70 who had a mini-stroke. They were followed for a year. Participants completed questionnaires about their level of fatigue within the first two weeks of the mini-stroke and again at three, six, and 12 months later.

One questionnaire looked at five different types of fatigue, including overall tiredness, physical tiredness, reduced activity, reduced motivation, and mental fatigue.

Scores ranged from four to 20 with higher scores indicating more fatigue. Participants had an average score of 12.3 at the start of the study.

At three months, the average score decreased slightly to 11.9; at six months, to 11.4; and at twelve months, to 11.1. Researchers looked at how many participants experienced fatigue as defined as a score of 12 or higher.

Of the participants, 61% experienced fatigue two weeks after the mini-stroke, and 54% experienced fatigue at each of the three other testing time periods at three, six and 12 months.

Participants also had brain scans. Researchers found that the presence of a blood clot on a scan was equal between people with long-term fatigue and those without it, so this did not explain the reason for the level of fatigue. Researchers did find that previous anxiety or depression was twice as common in those participants who reported lasting fatigue.

"Long-term fatigue was common in our group of study participants, and we found if people experience fatigue within two weeks after leaving the hospital, it is likely they will continue to have fatigue for up to a year," said study author Boris Modrau, MD, PhD, of Aalborg University Hospital in Denmark.

References: https://www.aan.com/PressRoom/Home/PressRelease/5259