An Analysis of The Fatigue-Related Factors and Coping Strategies in Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Fatigue is one of the symptoms of MS that is often experienced and causes irritating situations. This study was planned and applied as a descriptive and a cross-sectional study. Study was conducted at Neurology Department of Gulhane Military Medical Academy from December 2009 to March 2010. This study was carried out using 53 participants with MS. The data were collected by using Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). 94.3% of the MS patients sampled reported that they experience the fatigue. Their perceptions about the factors affecting the fatigue are as follows: the major factor on fatigue is reported to be “sadness and frustration” (92 %). “Stress” is stated to be the second significant factor affecting the fatigue (86 %). The third significant factor for the participants is found to be “the increase in the physical activity either at home or at work” (78%). The mean FSS score is 5.01 (SD=1.54) for the participants. 92.4 % of the participants (49 persons) employ such strategies, while 7.9 % (4 persons) of them do not employ any specific coping strategy for the fatigue.