Fatigue in patients with heart failure: Literature review

Aim. The aim of this paper is to review studies related to fatigue in patients with heart failure.
Background. Fatigue is a subjective feeling and a multifactorial phenomenon in patients with heart failure. Fatigue is an important symptom of heart failure; however, lack of information exist regarding this phenomenon. Also, fatigue is considered as a challenge by health care providers and clinical guidelines have paid less attention to fatigue in these patients.
Method. This article reviewed studies published regarding fatigue in patients with heart failure. The studies were searched out through scientific databases, including PubMed and Science Direct by the keywords fatigue, predictors, related factors, heart failure and their Persian equivalents.
Findings. The literature review revealed that the prevalence of fatigue in patients with heart failure is high and different findings have been reported regarding its severity in these patients. Fatigue and its increasing trend during the disease progress is related to unsatisfactory quality of life and clinical outcome. In various studies, multiple factors including the nature of the illness and psychological factors particularly depression have been reported as predictors of fatigue and its severity in patients with heart failure. Few studies were conducted with the aim of evaluating the effect of non-pharmacological intervention on management of fatigue in these patients.
Conclusion. According to the high prevalence of fatigue in patients with heart failure, it is essential to consider timely interventions by health care providers, particularly nurses, for reducing it and improving patients’ well-being. Regarding the limitation of studies and importance of reducing fatigue, it is necessary to conduct further research to evaluate the effect of non-pharmacological interventions on symptom management (especially fatigue) in these patients.