fatigue, depression, and physical impairment in multiple sclerosis.

background: fatigue, depression, and physical impairment are common  among  multiple  sclerosis (ms) patients. the aim  of  this  study was to  determine  the   relationship between depression,  physical impairment,  and  fatigue  in an iranian ms cohort. methods: fifty consecutive  relapsing-remitting ms patients and  50 age- and  sex-matched healthy  controls (hcs) were recruited  from sina rehabilitation clinic,tehran, ran. the depression  substance of hospital anxiety and  depression scale (hads), expended disability status scale, and fatigue severity scale questionnaires were used  to  assess depression, physical impairment, and fatigue, respectively. results: this study included 38 (76%) females and 12 (24%) males  in  both  patients and  hc groups. the  depression substance of the  hads  in ms and  hcs showed  a mean value of 1.92 ± 0.80 and 1.17 ± 0.38, respectively (p < 0.001). pearson’s correlation analyses showed that in the ms group depression    was  associatedwith fatigue (r  =  0.54, p =  0.01),  but  not  with  physical  impairment  (r =  0.16, p =   0.01),while fatigue   was   associated with both depression  (r = 0.54, p = 0.01) and  physical impairment (r =  0.36,  p =  0.01).  depression  in hcs group  was  also associated with fatigue (r -0.64, p = 0.01). conclusion: fatigue  is associated   with  both  depression and  physical  impairment, and  an  intervention  in one  of these conditions might improve others.