The title "Acknowledging Unexplained Fatigue of Tired Women" indicates a qualitative study. This study is applicable to women (aged 18 years or more) with the symptoms of fatigue, depression, sense of powerless, and body aches.
The problem is stated clearly throughout the introduction. The background information illustrates that fatigue is not well understood. If the patterns associated with fatigue were better understood, diagnosis, treatment, and management of symptoms would be attainable. Justification for this study is based on the principle that no previous research has taken place focusing on the patterns of fatigue. These must be understood in order to treat accurately. The specific significance of the problem to the nursing practice is not stated within the text. One can deduce that fatigue is multi-dimensional syndrome that requires care from all members of the interdisciplinary team, which includes nurses. The problem can be researched using objective measures to find correlations of fatigue and related symptoms.
The literature review precedes the explanation of the study. In this section, there is examination of treatment studies that have proven therapeutic for fatigue symptoms, including thyroid hormones and antidepressants. The review of the literature demonstrates that the best approach of care has not been found and there is a need to clearly define the patterns of fatigue. Classic research cited was Aaronson et. al (1999), which examined "fatigue physiological, intrapersonal, and psychosocial patterns related" (Dzurec, 42). Current research included in the literature review included Dzurec et al. (2000), in which the results show that anti-depressants are inadequate for long-term fatigue (Dzurec, 42). Supporting studies showed ne ...