Complete model including all generic biological/lifestyle, psychological and social factors and fatigue (PedsQL MFS general fatigue scale) as the dependent variable for the entire group of children with chronic disease (N=357)
| Associated factors | Unstandardised β | Effect size | 95% CI |
| Age and sex | |||
| Age | −0.9 | −0.1 | −1.3 to −0.4** |
| Sex | 1.0 | 0.0 | −1.7 to 3.7 |
| Biological/lifestyle factors | |||
| Factors associated with more fatigue | |||
| Pain (VAS, range 0–10) | −0.5 | −0.1 | −1.1 to 0.1 |
| Difficulties getting to sleep (0–5; ‘never’ to ‘almost every day’) | 0.5 | 0.0 | −0.5 to 1.6 |
| Factors associated with less fatigue | |||
| No of days physically active/week (0–7) | 0.4 | 0.0 | −0.2 to 1.0 |
| Physical functioning (PedsQL GCS subscale, range 0–100) | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.2 to 0.4** |
| Psychological factors | |||
| Factors associated with more fatigue | |||
| Depressive symptoms (RCADS, range 0–30) | −2.6 | −0.5 | −3.1 to −2.1** |
| Anxiety level (RCADS, range 0–111) | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 to 0.3* |
| Pain catastrophising (PCS-C, range 0–52) | 0.0 | 0.0 | −0.2 to 0.2 |
| Factors associated with less fatigue | |||
| Emotional functioning (PedsQL GCS, range 0–100) | 0.1 | 0.1 | −0.0 to 0.2 |
| Social factors | |||
| Factors associated with more fatigue | |||
| Pressure at school (0–4; ‘not at all’ to ‘a lot’) | −2.8 | −0.1 | −4.4 to −1.2** |
| Being bullied (0–5; never to several times per week) | 1.7 | 0.0 | −0.5 to 3.9 |
| Factors associated with less fatigue | |||
| Communication at home (1–5, higher score=better communication) | −0.1 | −0.0 | −2.5 to 2.3 |
| Support at home (1–7, higher score=more support) | −0.4 | −0.0 | −2.0 to 1.3 |
| Support by friends (1–7, higher score=more support) | 0.0 | 0.0 | −1.1 to 1.2 |
| Social functioning (PedsQL GCS subscale, range 0–100) | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.1 to 0.3** |
| Member of a sports team or club (0=not a member, 1=member) | −1.7 | −0.0 | −4.4 to 1.1 |
| Factors not associated with fatigue in this sample | |||
| Screen time per day (hours/day) | −0.2 | −0.0 | −1.2 to 0.8 |
The PedsQL MFS is scored on a scale from 0 to 100, with a lower score indicating more severe fatigue. Thus, a negative correlation indicates a lower score, thus indicating more fatigue.
*P<0.05, **p<0.01.
PCS-C, Pain Catastrophising Scale for Children; PedsQL GCS, PedsQL Generic Core Scale; PedsQL MFS, PedsQL Multidimensional Fatigue Scale; RCADS, Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale; VAS, Visual Analogue Scale.