OBJECTIVES: To describe fatigue and fatigue by efforts in people without chronic diseases and to verify the association between fatigue or fatigue by efforts with gender, age, education, marital cohabitation, depression, physical activity, smoking, body mass index (BMI), dyspnea and depression. METHODS: It is a descriptive study comprising 93 patients from outpatient attendance who reported about smoking, fatigue, fatigue by efforts, depression, and physical activity. RESULTS: Of the 93 volunteers (65.6% female - average age 33.4 ± 10.1 years), 52.7% had fatigue and 34.4% had fatigue by efforts. The average score of fatigue was 16.3 ± 6.6 (scale from 8 to 40) and fatigue by efforts12.6 ± 4.4 (scale from 9 to 45). The fatigue was more intense (p = 0.005) and more frequent (p = 0.001) in women and was positively correlated with depression (rs=0,47; p=0,000). The fatigue by efforts was positively correlated with depression (rs=0,39; p=0,000) and was more frequent among women (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: The characteristics of fatigue in a sample of patient companions are similar to those of patients with chronic diseases. The interpretation of data on fatigue, in patients with chronic diseases, should consider the fatigue data, in the general population.
Fatigue; Nursing Diagnoses; Adult health
