Fatigue is a common non-motor symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD), but even so, it may still be underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed in current practice due to its non-specific manifestations. The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of fatigue in PD patients compared to healthy controls and to identify the main characteristics and associations of fatigue with other non-motor symptoms and the impact of fatigue on sleep disturbances in Parkinson's disease.
Materials and methods: case-control study in which 131 PD patients and 131 age- and sex-matched controls were enrolled. Main characteristics of fatigue, sleep, and other non-motor symptoms were assessed using specific validated questionnaires.
Results: According to the Chalder fatigue scale, fatigue is more prevalent in PD patients (38.16%) compared to healthy controls (26.71%). Fatigue was identified in 46.54% of the PD patients using the Parkinson's Fatigue Scale (PFS-16). PD patients with fatigue presented a worse motor status, more sleep disturbances (insomnia, daytime sleepiness), a broader spectrum of non-motor symptoms (pain, anxiety, urinary disturbances), worse cognitive performances, a lower level of happiness, and worse quality of life compared to PD patients without fatigue.
Conclusion: Fatigue is a common symptom of PD and needs to be assessed, considering its consequences on quality of life. Sleep disturbances have a great influence over fatigue in PD patients.
Keywords: Parkinson’s disease; anxiety; depression; fatigue; quality of life; sleep disturbances.