Physiological and psychological markers associated with HIV-related fatigue

Fatigue is among the most common and debilitating complaints of HIV-positive individuals. These data are part of a larger exploratory study investigating the relationships of selected psychological and physiological factors among 40 participants with HIV-related fatigue. Fatigue severity was measured using the HIV-Related Fatigue Scale. Fatigue was correlated with depression (r = .40, p < .01), state anxiety (r = .40, p <.01), and trait anxiety (r = .46, p <.01). Of the physiological factors, there were three statistically significant correlations: thyroid-stimulating hormone was negatively correlated with fatigue severity (r = -.36, p = .02), and platelets (r = .35, p = .03) and alkaline phosphatase (r = .27, p = .09) were positively correlated with fatigue severity. There were no correlations between fatigue severity and CD4 count (r = -.16, p = .31) or fatigue severity and HIV viral load levels (r = .031, p = .84). Even among the group with excellent viral suppression, fatigue scores were still very high for many participants.