The effects of an educational intervention on fatigue and activities of daily living in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Background: Fatigue and decreased activities of daily living (ADL) are important problems in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and reduce their quality of life. Objectives: This study was conducted to examine the effect of fatigue and activity management education (FAME) program on fatigue severity and ADL in patients with SLE. Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted on 40 patients with SLE. The patients were selected consecutively and randomly allocated into an intervention (n = 20) and a control group (n = 20). The control group was treated as usual. However, in addition to the usual treatment, the intervention group received the FAME program. Data collection was done before and 8 weeks after the intervention using the Swedish Occupational Fatigue Inventory-20 (SOFI-20) questionnaire, the daily physical activity questionnaire, and a demographic characteristics form. Descriptive statistics, independent- and paired-samples t tests, and analysis of covariance were used to analyze the data. Results: The two groups were homogenous in terms of demographic characteristics (P > 0.05) unless their job (P = 0.002). The mean baseline fatigue and ADL scores were significantly different between the two groups (P < 0.0001). Hence, analysis of covariance was used to control the confounding effect of the aforementioned variable. Then, significant differences were found between the two groups respecting the mean fatigue (P < 0.0001) and mean ADL (P = 0.009) after the intervention. Conclusion: Considering the effectiveness of the FAME program in reducing fatigue and increasing ADL in patients with SLE, nurses are recommended to use similar programs in the care for these patients and help them improve their own fatigue and ADL.