Prevalence of fatigue and perceived fatigability in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Fatigue is a common health complaint in older adults, but its prevalence varies widely among studies due to differences in populations and assessment tools. The objective of this review is to systematically evaluate the prevalence of fatigue and perceived fatigability in older adults with PRISMA 2020. Four databases-PubMed, Embase, Web of Science (WoS), and Cochrane Library-were systematically searched as of December 27, 2023. Cochrane Q tests and the I² statistic were used using Stata16.0 to assess between-study heterogeneity. A total of 21 studies involving 17843 participants were included in this study. The prevalence of fatigue in older adults was 42.6%, and the prevalence of perceived physical fatigability and mental fatigability was 58.2% and 24.0%. Meta-analysis showed that the prevalence of perceived physical fatigability among older adults was very high. This prevalence varied with regional economic development level, age of the subjects, sample size, and representativeness of the subjects. Fatigue is a health dilemma faced by most older adults. To improve quality of life, early and regular fatigue assessment should be part of routine health screening for older adults.