Evaluating Subjective and Objective Fatigue Immediately Before and After Hemodialysis: A Within-Subjects' Design.

Change in fatigue within a hemodialysis (HD) session has not been established previously. A total of 55 cognitively intact adults on HD were included; individuals with mobility/hemodynamic issues were excluded. Measures included the Piper Fatigue Scale-12 (PFS-12), 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), demographic and clinical. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and stepwise regression were used. Mean age was 57 years. Mean change in PFS-12 was -4.56 ± 27.85. Mean change in walk distance was -16.26 ± 43.87 meters (p = 0.03). The change in the PFS-12 accounted for 47% quadratic trend in the change in 6MWD (p < 0.001). Both fatigue measures (PFS-12 and 6MWT) can be useful for examining changes in fatigue levels within an HD session. Our findings speak to the convergent validity of these two measures of fatigue.