Journal Article


Experiences of fatigue in daily life of people with acquired brain injury: A qualitative study

Abstract

Purpose. To develop an in-depth understanding of how survivors of acquired brain injury (ABI) experience fatigue and how fatigue affects everyday life. Materials and methods. We conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with 16 adults with ABI fatigue, recruited from support groups in south east UK. Interviews were analysed using the frameworks method. Results. We developed four themes: experiencing fatigue in the context of everyday activities, struggling to make sense of fatigue, coping with fatigue, adjusting social participation in the context of fatigue. Fatigue was comprised of mental, physical, generalised and motivational fatigue. Balancing fatigue against participation in daily activities was influenced by coping strategies and social support. Opportunities to socialize or participate in meaningful activities provided incentives for participants to push through their fatigue. Conclusions. This study highlights complex interactions that potentially mitigate the impact of fatigue on everyday life. Educational and self-management approaches to fatigue need to account for different types of fatigue in the contexts of an individual’s daily activity. Assessment of fatigue should capture in- the- moment experiences of different types of fatigue and activity. Social support and participation in meaningful activities may help individuals to break the negative cycle of fatigue and inactivity.

Attached files

Authors

Ezekiel, Leisle
Field, Leanne
Collett, Johnny
Dawes, Helen
Boulton, Mary

Oxford Brookes departments

Department of Sport, Health Sciences and Social Work

Dates

Year of publication: 2020
Date of RADAR deposit: 2020-01-22


Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License


Related resources

This RADAR resource is the Accepted Manuscript of Experiences of fatigue in daily life of people with acquired brain injury: A qualitative study

Details

  • Owner: Joseph Ripp
  • Collection: Outputs
  • Version: 1 (show all)
  • Status: Live
  • Views (since Sept 2022): 662