Publication Cover
AIDS Care
Psychological and Socio-medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV
Volume 20, 2008 - Issue 10
304
Views
46
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Trauma, stressful life events and depression predict HIV-related fatigue

, , , &
Pages 1258-1265 | Received 02 Aug 2007, Published online: 13 Nov 2008
 

Abstract

Despite the fact that fatigue is a common and debilitating symptom among HIV-infected persons, we know little about the predictors of fatigue in this population. The goal of this cross-sectional study was to examine the effects of early childhood trauma, recent stressful life events and depression on intensity and impairment of fatigue in HIV, over and above demographic factors and clinical characteristics. We studied 128 HIV-infected men and women from one southern state. The median number of childhood traumatic events was two and participants tended to have at least one moderate recent stressful event. Multiple regression findings showed that patients with less income, more childhood trauma, more recent stressful events and more depressive symptoms had greater fatigue intensity and fatigue-related impairment in daily functioning. Recent stresses were a more powerful predictor of fatigue than childhood trauma. None of the disease-related measures (e.g. CD4, viral load, antiretroviral medication) predicted fatigue. Although stress and trauma have been related to fatigue in other populations, this is the first study to examine the effects of traumatic and recent stressful life events on fatigue in an HIV-infected sample.

Acknowledgements

The study featured here was funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, 5R01NR008681, Sept. 1, 2004–May 31, 2009 (Julie Barroso, PI) and Grant Number 1UL1RR024128-01 from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and NIH Roadmap for Medical Research. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of NCRR or NIH.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.