Researchers found that children newly diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis experience severe fatigue, significantly contributing to their physical disability.

The study, published in Arthritis Care & Research, included 855 patients (61.4% female) newly diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), with data collected from the Canadian Alliance of Pediatric Rheumatology Investigators Registry between February 2017 and May 2023. The parents of the participants completed the PROMIS fatigue and pain interference short proxy questionnaires and the Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire disability index at registry enrollment.

Researchers found that 15.6% of patients experienced severe fatigue, and 7.3% reported severe pain interference. Fatigue was strongly correlated with pain interference (r = 0.72, P < .001) and physical disability (r = 0.60, P < .001). Multiple linear regression analyses demonstrated that both pain interference (β = 0.027, P < .001) and fatigue (β = 0.013, P < .001) were independently associated with physical disability. Structural equation modeling supported the hypothesis that fatigue partially mediates the relationship between pain interference and physical disability.

"These findings highlight the importance of addressing both fatigue and pain interference to mitigate physical disability in early stages of JIA. Future research should be conducted to develop and evaluate targeted interventions to reduce fatigue and pain interference in JIA," concluded the researchers.

This study was funded by The Arthritis Society Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.