Publication Details
Abstract
Among the sequelae of stroke, fatigue ranks as one of the most frequent yet least recognised, and it can hold back rehabilitation while eroding quality of life. How it connects to sleep and mood remains comparatively understudied in Middle Eastern populations. Our aim was to gauge how frequent and how severe post-stroke fatigue (PSF) is and to see how it tracks with sleep, depressive symptoms, and the demographic and clinical profile of patients. We enrolled 273 stroke survi vors in a cross-sectional design. Fatigue was rated on the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), sleep on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and mood on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Group differences were tested with t- tests and one-way ANOVA, associations with Pearson correlation, and independent predictors with multiple linear regression; significance was set at p < 0.05. The report conforms to the STROBE checklist for cross-sectional studies. Fatigue was identified in 198 survivors (72.5%), with a mean FSS of 5.36 ± 1.28. Sleep was poor in 197 patients (72.2%), and 206 (75.5%) reported at least mild depressive symptoms. Fatigue severity increased as sleep wors ened (r = 0.66, p < 0.001) and as depression deepened (r = 0.61, p < 0.001), with a weaker rise across age (r = 0.29, p < 0.001). On regression, the independent contributors were poor sleep (β = 0.42, p < 0.001), depression (β = 0.34, p < 0.001), and older age (β = 0.13, p = 0.014), which jointly accounted for 56% of the variance in fatigue (R² = 0.56; F = 67.82, p < 0.001). Post-stroke fatigue was widespread and moved in step with poor sleep and depression, with sleep the dominant predictor. Assessing fatigue alongside sleep and mood, and treating the sleep and mood distu rbances that are amenable to therapy, may lighten the fatigue burden after stroke.