Once tired, always tired? Limitations in function over time of tired patients in Dutch general practice

To gain insight into limitations in function over time of general-practice patients who presented and were diagnosed with "tiredness".

In a routine family-practice electronic register based on use of the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC), 684 patients were identified who presented (in 1997 or 1998) with the complaint tiredness, who were given the same symptom diagnosis, and who still had this diagnosis on 1 August 1999. A questionnaire (WONCA/COOP charts, HAD Scale, recent medical care, tiredness and attribution) was sent to these 684 "cases" and 858 controls. In a logistic regression analysis (16 dichotomous variables), we constructed five models for optimizing sensitivity and specificity for the detection of patients with an episode of care for "tiredness".

We received 385 fully completed questionnaires of cases, on average 19 (7~31) months after the start of their episode of care for "tiredness". The results of the 1997 and 1998 cases were similar. Cases did considerably worse than did the 385 optimally matched controls: e.g., seriously limited by tiredness: 52% of cases vs 32% of controls; poor overall health: 35% of cases vs 20% of controls; HAD Scale scores indicating anxiety or depression: about 20% of cases vs about 10% of controls. Highest sensitivity (70%) was reached by including poor overall health, recent medical care and HAD Scale depression score >10 in the model; and highest specificity (65%) by including poor overall health and a HAD Scale anxiety score >7.

Patients who present with tiredness and receive the same diagnosis have a high probability of suffering from substantial limitations in function in the years following diagnosis. Their limitations are more serious than those of controls, but no indication is found for a specific limitation. The indicators are strongly related and concentrate around "poor overall health".