Table 3.
Seasonal variations in fatigue levels, in persons with rheumatoid arthritis, rated by the VAS for general fatigue and the BRAF-MDQ
| Measure | Least square of means | 95 % CI | p-value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VAS fatigue | Season | Winter | 50.86 | 44.15; 57.57 | <0.01 |
| (0–100) | Spring | 50.62 | 43.88; 57.36 | ||
| Summer | 46.34 | 39.53; 53.16 | |||
| Autumn | 44.88 | 37.95; 51.81 | |||
| Sex | 0.08 | ||||
| Age | 0.62 | ||||
| BRAF-MDQ | |||||
| Total | Season | Winter | 28.15 | 24.52; 31.78 | <0.01 |
| (0–70) | Spring | 26.77 | 23.12; 30.43 | ||
| Summer | 25.13 | 21.44; 28.81 | |||
| Autumn | 25.59 | 21.85; 29.33 | |||
| Sex | 0.25 | ||||
| Age | 0.56 | ||||
| Physical | Season | Winter | 13.67 | 12.41; 14.94 | <0.01 |
| (0–22) | Spring | 13.30 | 12.03; 14.57 | ||
| Summer | 12.46 | 11.18; 13.75 | |||
| Autumn | 12.74 | 11.43; 14.05 | |||
| Sex | 0.11 | ||||
| Age | 0.46 | ||||
| Living | Season | Winter | 6.11 | 4.99; 7.24 | <0.01 |
| (0–21) | Spring | 5.52 | 4.39; 6.66 | ||
| Summer | 5.06 | 3.92; 6.21 | |||
| Autumn | 5.10 | 3.93; 6.27 | |||
| Sex | 0.44 | ||||
| Age | 0.43 | ||||
| Cognition | Season | Winter | 4.78 | 3.85; 5.71 | 0.40 |
| (0–15) | Spring | 4.67 | 3.73; 5.61 | ||
| Summer | 4.32 | 3.37; 5.27 | |||
| Autumn | 4.65 | 3.69; 5.62 | |||
| Sex | 0.34 | ||||
| Age | 0.70 | ||||
| Emotion | Season | Winter | 3.54 | 2.78; 4.31 | 0.33 |
| (0–12) | Spring | 3.29 | 2.52; 4.06 | ||
| Summer | 3.19 | 2.41; 3.97 | |||
| Autumn | 3.15 | 2.36; 3.94 | |||
| Sex | 0.50 | ||||
| Age | 0.16 | ||||
Statistical analyses was performed using mixed models, including age and sex. Number of observations (n): winter n = 120, spring n = 118, summer n = 106, autumn n = 82. VAS = visual analogue scale, BRAF-MDQ = Bristol Rheumatoid Arthritis Fatigue Multidimensional Questionnaire, CI = confidence interval