Relationship as an Inherent Component in Healthy Women’s Fatigue

Abstract

The notion of fatigue has remained ambiguous despite more than 100 years of study. Fatigue is recognized as subjective in nature, and it is studied and clinically managed as primarily intrapersonal in scope, with treatment approaches often based in an established, if unfounded, hierarchy of assumptions. When a physiologic cause for fatigue is not identifiable, fatigue complaints often are considered illegitimate. This article builds on data from the literature and from the author's previous work in women's fatigue and relatedness to suggest that interpersonal relationships may serve to exacerbate healthy women's fatigue experiences. The importance of relationship to women's life experience and the inherently relational character of women's fatigue are discussed. The author proposes the importance of including interpersonal experiences as a component of the definition of fatigue for healthy women.

Integrated effects of nutrition‐related, physical, and social factors on frailty among community‐dwelling older adults: A 7‐year follow‐up from the Kashiwa cohort study

“…32,33 Regarding social factors, previous studies have yielded compelling evidence demonstrating a notable correlation between social support and interaction and fatigue among older adults. 34,35 It has also been suggested that social engagement can indirectly mitigate the risk of sarcopenia by affecting physical, oral, psychological, and nutritional status. 36 From this perspective, the various factors discussed in this study are appropriate for frailty prevention in older adults.…”

Multidimensional Predictors of Fatigue among Octogenarians and Centenarians

“…Specifically, the current findings revealed a significant relationship between fatigue and social support which is a situational factor (i.e., social network and social support). Previous studies [26][27]51] focused on only healthy and young-old adults. This finding extends previous research noting that social support had a significant effect on fatigue for oldest-old adults.…”

“…This is another important finding of this study suggesting the inclusion of situational factors for fatigue with oldest-old participants. Most studies that investigated the influences of social support or social networks on fatigue included only younger and healthy participants [26,27] . Another significant aspect of this study is the focus on advanced old age.…”

“…Most studies that investigated the influences of social support or social networks on fatigue included only younger and healthy participants [26,27] .…”

“…Moreover, even though a number of studies have tried to identify psychosocial factors explaining fatigue [23][24][25] , the relationship between social interaction/support and fatigue is not well understood, especially for older adults. Evidence of a significant relationship between social support or social interaction and fatigue has been found for healthy, younger adults [26,27] . For example, higher social support has been found to contribute to decreased levels of fatigue [26] .…”