Prevalence of post stroke fatigue among stroke survivors in rehabilitation at physiotherapy facilities in Nigeria

Poststroke fatigue (PSF) is a debilitating but often neglected consequence of stroke. This cross-sectional study evaluated the prevalence of PSF among one hundred stroke survivors receiving physiotherapy in North-east Nigeria. Demographic and clinical data were obtained while PSF was assessed with the 9-item Fatigue Severity Scale. Descriptive and Chi-square statistics were used to respectively summarize the data, and explore the differences in prevalence of PSF among the age and gender sub-groups. The majority of the participants were males (66%). Mean age and mean post-stroke duration was 55.3 (SD 13.9 years) and 12.6 months (SD 19.3 months) respectively. Eighty-two (82%) participants were found to have PSF. Prevalence of PSF did not significantly differ based on the age (P= 0.42) and gender (P= 0.63) of the participants. The observed high prevalence of PSF emphasizes the urgent need for increased awareness and detection of PSF as well as effective PSF management.