ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Rheumatology
Fatigue and associated factors among patients with systemic lupus erythematosus in China: a cross-sectional study
Provisionally accepted
- Minda Hospital of Hubei Minzu University, Enshi, China
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Abstract Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate fatigue in SLE patients and systematically analyze the main factors associated with fatigue. Methods: We recruited potential participants from the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of two tertiary hospitals in China between August 2021 and January 2022. We used questionnaires to collect research data, including sociodemographic data, disease-related data, fatigue, anxiety and depression, illness perception, social support, sleep quality, physical activity, and disease activity. The independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, non-parametric test, Pearson/Spearman correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression analysis were used in this study. Results: A total of 201 patients with SLE were included in this study. The prevalence of fatigue in SLE patients was 58.7%, with a mean fatigue score of 4.36±1.18. The multiple linear regression analysis revealed that higher depression (β=0.238, P<0.001), higher illness perception (β=0.143, P=0.005), more pain (β=0.243, P<0.001), worse sleep quality (β=0.231, P<0.001) were associated with worse fatigue, but higher social support (β=-0.291, P<0.001) and physical activity (β=-0.096, P=0.024) were associated with lower fatigue. Monthly household income per capita and educational level were also associated with fatigue (all P < 0.05). Conclusions: The prevalence of fatigue in SLE was 58.7%. Fatigue was associated with monthly household income, educational level, depression, illness perception, pain, social support, sleep quality, and physical activity. No significant association was observed between anxiety, disease activity, age, work status and fatigue. Future fatigue management for SLE patients should prioritize the modifiable non-disease-activity-related factors.
Keywords: systemic lupus erythematosus, Fatigue, social support, Pain, Depression, sleep quality
Received: 01 Sep 2025; Accepted: 17 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Wu, Cai, Shi, Zhu and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hong Zhang, 464647292@qq.com
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