TY - JOUR
T1 - Reducing fatigue in pediatric rheumatic conditions
T2 - a systematic review
AU - Kant-Smits, K.
AU - Van Brussel, M.
AU - Nijhof, S.
AU - Van der Net, J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2021/7/8
Y1 - 2021/7/8
N2 - Background: Although fatigue is a prevalent distressing symptom in children and adolescents with Pediatric Rheumatic Conditions (PRCs), intervention studies designed for reducing fatigue in PRCs are limited. Aim: To systematically review evidence regarding the efficacy of interventions intended to reduce fatigue in patients with PRCs. Methods: Comprehensive electronic searches were performed in PubMed/ MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science and Cinahl. The risk of bias was assessed using the ‘Revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials’ and ‘Quality Assessment Tool for Before-After Studies With No Control Group’ for respectively studies with and without a control group. Results: Ten out of 418 studies were included with a total of 240 participants (age range 5–23 years). Interventions included land-based and aquatic-based exercise therapy, prednisolone, vitamin-D and creatine supplementation, psychological therapy and a transition program into an adult rheumatology program. Fatigue was assessed with self-reported questionnaires in all included studies. Land-based exercise therapy was effective in one pre-post intervention study, whereas not effective in two randomized controlled trials. Aquatic-based exercise therapy was found more effective than land-based exercise therapy. Two placebo-controlled studies showed a significant positive effect in reducing subjective fatigue with prednisolone and vitamin-D. Creatine was not found effective. Cognitive therapy was effective in one pre-post intervention study, while one RCT did not show an effect in reducing fatigue. A transition program based on health education showed a small reducing effect, however, it was not clear if this was a significant effect. Six studies showed a high risk of bias, three studies a moderate risk, and one study had a low risk of bias. Conclusions: Insufficient evidence is provided to substantiate the efficacy of current interventions to reduce fatigue in PRCs. The low number of studies, non-comparable interventions, risk of bias, and inconclusive outcomes of the included studies denote future research should focus on intervention studies aimed at the treatment of fatigue in children and adolescents with PRCs. Identification of possible underlying biological and psychosocial mechanisms as possible treatment targets to reduce complaints of fatigue in children and adolescents with PRCs is warranted.
AB - Background: Although fatigue is a prevalent distressing symptom in children and adolescents with Pediatric Rheumatic Conditions (PRCs), intervention studies designed for reducing fatigue in PRCs are limited. Aim: To systematically review evidence regarding the efficacy of interventions intended to reduce fatigue in patients with PRCs. Methods: Comprehensive electronic searches were performed in PubMed/ MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science and Cinahl. The risk of bias was assessed using the ‘Revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials’ and ‘Quality Assessment Tool for Before-After Studies With No Control Group’ for respectively studies with and without a control group. Results: Ten out of 418 studies were included with a total of 240 participants (age range 5–23 years). Interventions included land-based and aquatic-based exercise therapy, prednisolone, vitamin-D and creatine supplementation, psychological therapy and a transition program into an adult rheumatology program. Fatigue was assessed with self-reported questionnaires in all included studies. Land-based exercise therapy was effective in one pre-post intervention study, whereas not effective in two randomized controlled trials. Aquatic-based exercise therapy was found more effective than land-based exercise therapy. Two placebo-controlled studies showed a significant positive effect in reducing subjective fatigue with prednisolone and vitamin-D. Creatine was not found effective. Cognitive therapy was effective in one pre-post intervention study, while one RCT did not show an effect in reducing fatigue. A transition program based on health education showed a small reducing effect, however, it was not clear if this was a significant effect. Six studies showed a high risk of bias, three studies a moderate risk, and one study had a low risk of bias. Conclusions: Insufficient evidence is provided to substantiate the efficacy of current interventions to reduce fatigue in PRCs. The low number of studies, non-comparable interventions, risk of bias, and inconclusive outcomes of the included studies denote future research should focus on intervention studies aimed at the treatment of fatigue in children and adolescents with PRCs. Identification of possible underlying biological and psychosocial mechanisms as possible treatment targets to reduce complaints of fatigue in children and adolescents with PRCs is warranted.
KW - Children
KW - Fatigue
KW - Intervention
KW - Juvenile dermatomyositis (JD)
KW - Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA)
KW - Systemic lupus erythematosus (cSLE)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85109695738&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12969-021-00580-8
DO - 10.1186/s12969-021-00580-8
M3 - Review article
C2 - 34238314
AN - SCOPUS:85109695738
SN - 1546-0096
VL - 19
SP - 1
EP - 9
JO - Pediatric Rheumatology
JF - Pediatric Rheumatology
IS - 1
M1 - 111
ER -