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Fatigue in patients with vestibular schwannoma

  • Original Article - Tumor - Schwannoma
  • Published:
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Abstract

Background

Patients with vestibular schwannoma (VS) often complain about tiredness, exhaustion, lack of energy, and strength, but such symptoms of fatigue have scarcely been objectified and analyzed in a VS population. We aimed to characterize fatigue in a cohort of patients with VS and compare such symptoms with a control group.

Methods

All patients who attended an educational course for patients with VS were surveyed with validated tools for assessment of fatigue (fatigue severity scale), anxiety and depression (hospital anxiety and depression scale), sleepiness (Epworth sleepiness scale), and apathy (Starkstein apathy scale). Quality of Life was assessed with the disease-specific Penn Acoustic Neuroma Quality of Life (PANQOL). Symptom severity was estimated with a visual analog scale (VAS). The results have been compared to a control group consisting of patient companions.

Results

Data from 88 VS patients and 49 controls were analyzed. The controls had similar age and sex distribution as patients. Fifty-seven percent of VS patients had significant fatigue, compared to 25% in the control group. The mean fatigue score was 4.1 for the patients, and 2.8 for controls. Patients with fatigue were more likely to have depression, anxiety, sleepiness, and apathy. No correlation of fatigue was found with age, gender, or treatment modality. Regression analyses revealed depression, apathy, and vertigo to be predictors of fatigue. Fatigue was strongly correlated to QoL.

Conclusion

Almost six out of ten VS patients had fatigue, significantly higher than the control group. Interest and focus on fatigue in VS patients can improve the patient’s QoL.

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Abbreviations

ANA :

Acoustic Neuroma Association

CSF :

Cerebrospinal fluid

Dept. :

Department

ESS :

Epworth sleepiness scale

FSS :

Fatigue severity scale

HADS :

Hospital anxiety and depression scale

MS :

Microsurgery

PANQOL :

Penn Acoustic Neuroma Quality of Life

PD :

Parkinson’s disease

PROM :

Patient-reported outcome measures

QoL :

Quality of life

REC :

Research ethics committee

SAS :

Starkstein apathy scale

SRS :

Stereotactic radiosurgery

VAS :

Visual analog scale

VS:

Vestibular schwannoma

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank study nurse Linda Karin Fauske for providing clinical care for the patients and for her contribution in data collection.

Funding

Internal departmental funding was utilized without commercial sponsorship or support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Haukeland University Hospital, Jonas Lies vei 65, N-5021, Bergen, Norway

    Dhanushan Dhayalan, Morten Lund-Johansen, Monica Finnkirk & Øystein Vesterli Tveiten

  2. Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    Morten Lund-Johansen & Øystein Vesterli Tveiten

Authors
  1. Dhanushan Dhayalan
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  2. Morten Lund-Johansen
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  3. Monica Finnkirk
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  4. Øystein Vesterli Tveiten
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Correspondence to Dhanushan Dhayalan.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Dhayalan, D., Lund-Johansen, M., Finnkirk, M. et al. Fatigue in patients with vestibular schwannoma. Acta Neurochir 161, 1809–1816 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-019-04003-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00701-019-04003-2

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