The Effect of Oral Vitamin C on Fatigue in Hemodialysis Patients in Selected Hospitals of the Army University of Medical Sciences in 2009

Fatigue is a debilitating symptom or side effect experienced by many patients on dialysis therapy. Fatigue has a considerable effect on quality of life in these patients. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of vitamin C on fatigue measure. We investigated 56 hemodialysis patients who complained of fatigue and were admitted in Emam Reza and Besat University Hospitals in 2009. The inclusion criteria were: 1) Subjects diagnosed with chronic renal failure and received regular hemodialysis treatment for at least six months, 2) Aged 18 years or older, 3) Conscious and oriented, 4) no other systemic diseases causing fatigue 5) Ability to communicate verbally and to give informed consent. The patients were excluded when supplementation with vitamin c was in injection form or when adverse reactions occurred. Patients in the Case group received oral vitamin C for two month, 250 mg, three times per week. Patients filled fatigue severity questionnaires before and after the intervention. The results were statistically analyzed with T-test. The fatigue score in the case group before intervention was 5.29 and 3.94 after intervention, while in the control group, the fatigue score of the patients were 5.007 and 4.93 before and after intervention respectively. These results show a statistically significant decrease fatigue score by using oral vitamin C (P<0.05). We believe that oral vitamin C can be helpful in hemodialysis patients with fatigue.