Influence of fatigue on leisure and quality of life in women with chronic conditions

Abstract

Abstract Fatigue is a major factor for women with chronic conditions, but no research investigates whether fatigue influences the relationships between leisure and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This study recruited 116 women with chronic conditions. Data from 102 participants with no clinical depression and anemia were analyzed. Participants were tested using the questionnaires of fatigue, leisure, and HRQoL, Data analysis included: (1) Independent t tests of leisure and HRQoL in participants grouped by a median of fatigue; and (2) Spearman's rank correlations of those variables. The high fatigue group showed poorer HRQoL than the low fatigue group [p < 0.001) whereas the low fatigue group performed more physical leisure than the high fatigue group (p < 0.05). Positive correlations of leisure and HRQoL were found in the high fatigue group {p < 0.05). Negative correlations of fatigue and HRQoL were found in both high and low fatigue groups, but the low fatigue group showed greater strength of those correlations than the high fatigue group. Fatigue might influence the relationships between leisure and HRQoL in women with chronic conditions.