Physical fatigue is an indicator of early mortality

Older adults who scored highest on post-activity fatigue were more than twice as likely to die over the next 2.

"This is the time of year when people make and break New Year's resolutions to get more physical activity," said study lead author Nancy W.

Green and her colleagues used the Pittsburgh fatigue Scale on 2,906 participants aged 60 or older who participated in the Long Life Family Study

A follow-up to this work, which ended in late 2019 to avoid the impact of increased mortality from the COVID-19 pandemic, gave the team an average of 2.

"There are studies showing that people who increase their physical activity can reduce their fatigue index," said Green, a physical activity epidemiologist

In addition to linking high fatigue to early death, Green said the study also demonstrated the value of the Pittsburgh Fatigue Scale she and colleagues created in 2014

"While the Pittsburgh Fatigue Scale is widely used in research as a reliable, sensitive measure of fatigue, it is underutilized in hospital settings and clinical trials," Glynn said

Additional authors of the study are Theresa Gmelin, MSW, mph, and Susanna, sm

This study was funded by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health, U01 AG023712, U01 AG023744, U01 AG023746, U01 AG023749, U01 AG023755, P01 AG08761, U19 AG063893, T32 AG000181, and K01 AG0057798

Journal Reference :

1. Nancy W Glynn, Theresa Gmelin, Sharon W Renner, Yujia (Susanna) Qiao, Robert M Boudreau, Mary F Feitosa, Mary K Wojczynski, Stephanie Cosentino, Stacy L Andersen, Kaare Christensen, Anne B Newman.