Fatigue 1–5 years after lung transplantation: A multicenter cross-sectional cohort study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of fatigue among lung recipients 1–5 years after transplantation (LuTx) and to explore its relationship to distressing symptoms such as dyspnea, sleep problems, pain, and decreased appetite, as well as psychological and transplant specific wellbeing. A cross-sectional, multicenter cohort study was conducted. A total of 117 lung recipients with a mean age of 54 years ( SD 13 years) who were due for their annual follow-up were included at 1 year ( n = 35), 2 years ( n = 28), 3 years ( n = 23), 4 years ( n = 20), and 5 years ( n = 11) after lung transplantation. Several instruments were used: the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory, the Organ Transplant and Symptom Well-being Instrument (OTSWI), the Pain-O-Meter, and the Psychological General Well-Being Index. Overall 56% reported high or severe fatigue. The Psychological General Well-Being sum score makes the strongest contribution ( p < .0001) to explaining the variance in general fatigue (Beta –.628). The results of the study indicate that efforts both to identify fatigue and to test interventions are needed after LuTx.

Reversibility of Frailty After Lung Transplantation

“…Walk speed as assessed by six-minute walk distance and time spent in moderate-intensity physical exercise has previously been reported to significantly improve from hospital discharge to 3 months post-LTX [22]. Interestingly, exhaustion was reported to be prevalent in 56% of lung transplant recipients at routine follow-up (1-5 years post-LTX), with psychological distress the most significant predictor of exhaustion [23]. is may be due to a number of factors including post-TX mood change, cognitive problems, and unrealistic expectations of the TX process.…”

Fatigue after heart transplantation – a possible barrier to self‐efficacy

“…Within this project, the patients were asked to fill in a total of nine different self‐report instruments, measuring various aspects potentially involved in self‐management, with specific focus on symptom management. The instruments used in this paper have also been employed in a published study of lung recipients [ 18 ].…”

“…Fatigue is reported to be one of the most common and distressing symptoms after HTx [ 13 , 14 , 15 ] and is prevalent over time [ 16 ], leading to decreased HRQoL [ 14 ]. Fatigue is also widespread among other organ transplant recipients [ 17 , 18 , 19 ] and found to be the most frequent symptom affecting the ability to work among liver transplant recipients [ 19 ]. Furthermore, fatigue seems to be associated with immunosuppressive medication as the most prevalent immunosuppressive‐related symptoms reported were tiredness (88·8%) and lack of energy (79·5%) [ 3 ].…”

Reversibility of Frailty after Lung Transplantation

“…Walk speed as assessed by six-minute walk distance and time spent in moderate-intensity physical exercise has previously been reported to significantly improve from hospital discharge to 3 months post-LTX [ 22 ]. Interestingly, exhaustion was reported to be prevalent in 56% of lung transplant recipients at routine follow-up (1–5 years post-LTX), with psychological distress the most significant predictor of exhaustion [ 23 ]. This may be due to a number of factors including post-TX mood change, cognitive problems, and unrealistic expectations of the TX process.…”