Fatigue in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: a Scoping Review

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a global public health problem with increasing incidence and mortality. Fatigue is a common complaint of COPD patients, which seriously impairs the quality of life. Objective To conduct a scoping review of current research status and tools about fatigue as well as fatigue-related factors in COPD, providing ideas for the development of relevant individualized intervention schemes. Methods Methodological framework was used. Studies on fatigue in COPD were searched from databases of Web of Science, PubMed, EmBase, CINAHL, ProQuest, the Cochrane Library, CNKI, WanFang, CQVIP, and SinoMed from inception to July 2022, and enrolled according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Relevant data were extracted, collected, summarized and reported. Results A total of 52 studies were included. Taken overall, a wide variety of assessment tools for fatigue in COPD featured by lack of multidimensionality and specificity were used, among which common were the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy and the Fatigue Severity Scale. There were certain disparities in the incidence, duration, and severity of fatigue in COPD across studies. The main influencing factors of fatigue include sociodemographic factors, COPD-related factors, somatic factors, and psychological factors. Conclusion As fatigue is a major symptom that seriously declines the quality of life in COPD patients, clinical care providers need to use specific tools to accurately assess fatigue, and to develop individualized interventions to improve fatigue according to its influencing factors.