Objective:

To establish the relationship between fatigue and the level of functional independence in activities of daily living in people with multiple sclerosis.

Material and Method:

A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out 107 people with multiple sclerosis participated, over 18 years old, with scores between 0 and 8 in the Kurt-zke Expanded Disability Status Scale. Fatigue was assessed with the Fatigue Severity Scale, the daily basic activities with the Barthel Index (BI) and instrumentals with the Lawton and Brody Scale. These variables were correlated, and homogeneity tests were performed between the severity of fatigue and socio-demographic and clinical variables.

Results:

A significant inversely proportional relationship was found between the degree of severity of fatigue and the dependence variables for the basic and instrumental activities of daily life (p <0.001). No significant relationship was found between the severity of fatigue with age, sex and time of evolution of multiple sclerosis (p> 0.05). Significant differences were found in the fatigue level regarding the use of external aids, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, motor commitment, sensitivity disorders, sphincter control alterations, cognitive impairment and depression.

Conclusions:

It was found that fatigue was the most predominant symptom (> 75%). People reporting high levels of fatigue showed less independence for activities of daily living.

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