Fatigue in immune thrombocytopenia

Fatigue is an important aspect of health-related quality of life from the patient perspective and can have significant socio-economic consequences. It is a common feature of chronic illnesses and a significant number of both adults and children with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) suffer from fatigue. Reliable, validated fatigue scales have been developed for use in ITP. These will facilitate future investigation of its pathogenesis and the effectiveness of intervention. Acute inflammation acts on neural and endocrine systems resulting in 'sickness behaviour', an adaptive response to infection and injury. Inflammation is also thought to cause fatigue in chronic disease and immune dysregulation in ITP appears to have a number of pro-inflammatory components. Clinicians should consider fatigue when assessing the burden of disease. Although effective ITP-directed therapy can improve fatigue, a number of fatigue-directed strategies may also need to be considered.