Recent studies have shown that fatigue and other behavioral and psychosocial factors have important links to cardiovascular diseases. However, there is still very limited information on how fatigue affects the risk of cardiovascular disease.

"Our research identifies fatigue as an important bio-alarm to predict cardiovascular events in dialysis patients, particularly those who are well-nourished and healthy-looking," according to Koyama. The researchers believe the new questionnaire will be useful in understanding not only fatigue itself, but also the causative factors contributing to it.

They call for further research to determine whether objective measures of fatigue can predict cardiovascular events and to understand the mechanisms underlying this relationship. "Another important question is whether interventions for fatigue will be effective in preventing cardiovascular events," Koyama adds.

SOURCE American Society of Nephrology