Fatigue Perception in Adolescents with Obesity and Their Caregivers

Although fatigue is a frequently occurring symptom in young patients with obesity,
relatively few studies have assessed their perception of fatigue and its impact on their quality of
life so far. Comparisons between the reports of fatigue in children/adolescents with obesity and
their parents were assessed using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory-Multidimensional Fatigue
Scale (PedsQL-MFS). One hundred Italian children/adolescents (36 males; 64 females), aged between
11 and 17 (mean age = 15.3; SD = 1.61) with severe obesity [mean Body Mass Index (BMI: kg/m2) = 38;
SD = 5.48] and their caregivers were enrolled. Perception of fatigue did not change by sex and rates of
obesity in adolescents, while there was a difference (p = 0.040) in parents’ reports of cognitive fatigue
between parents of children/adolescents of Group 1 (BMI SDS 2–2.99) and Group 2 (BMI SDS > 3),
with a higher perception of fatigue in parents of the less heavy obese children. Significant differences
in reports of general fatigue subscale were found between children/adolescents and their parents,
being higher in their parents than in the young subjects with obesity (p < 0.001). Significant moderate
correlations between all the subscales of PedsQL-MFS for children and parents were found with
Pearson’s coefficients ranging from 0.529 to 0.571 (p < 0.001). The perception of fatigue measured
with the PedsQL-MFS was comparable between obese children and their parents, thus indicating that
this symptom is not hidden by children and is clearly perceived by their parents.