Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39129050›Full record

ArticleGeroScience2025

Sex-specific clinical and neurobiological correlates of fatigue in older adults.

Marco Toccaceli Blasi, Alba Rosa Alfano, Martina Salzillo, Simona Buscarnera, Valeria Raparelli, Matteo Cesari, Giuseppe Bruno, Marco Canevelli, Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in GeroScience, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Marco Toccaceli Blasi *Department of Human Neuroscience, "Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy. marco.toccaceliblasi@uniroma1.it.ORCID 0000-0002-1336-0932
Alba Rosa Alfano *Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, UOC Geriatrics, "Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy.
Martina SalzilloDepartment of Human Neuroscience, "Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy.
Simona BuscarneraDepartment of Human Neuroscience, "Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy.
Valeria RaparelliDepartment of Translational and Precision Medicine, "Sapienza" University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Matteo CesariAgeing and Health Unit, Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health and Ageing, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Giuseppe BrunoDepartment of Human Neuroscience, "Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy.
Marco CanevelliDepartment of Human Neuroscience, "Sapienza" University, Rome, Italy.
Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative

Funding

Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative - SupplementU01AG024904 · NIA · NORTHERN CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE RES &EDUC · PI WEINER, MICHAEL W · 2004 to 2015
$121.0M
NIA NIH HHS U01 AG024904World Health Organization 001
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Fatigue is a common and distressful symptom in older people and has been associated with adverse health outcomes. Nevertheless, its sex-specific pathophysiological underpinnings and clinical correlates have been scarcely investigated. We aimed to comprehensively explore the clinical and neurobiological determinants of fatigue in cognitively unimpaired older adults. A sex-stratified analysis was conducted to look for differences in the clinical expression of fatigue among women and men. Data on cognitively normal individuals were gathered from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) 2 study. Fatigue was defined based on self-report at baseline. For each participant, information on sociodemographics, comorbidities, mood, cognitive performance, frailty, and biomarkers of brain pathology was collected. Logistic regression models, stratified by sex, were conducted to explore the factors associated with fatigue. Among the 291 participants selected, 44 subjects (15.1% of the total sample) self-reported fatigue at baseline. Subjects reporting fatigue were more likely women, had higher frailty degrees, and more severe depressive symptoms than those without fatigue. Moreover, they tended to have lower MRI hippocampus volumes. Among women, those reporting fatigue exhibited higher frailty levels, worse depression, and lower MRI hippocampus volumes relative to those without fatigue. Higher frailty degrees were also observed in men reporting vs. non-reporting fatigue. In the adjusted logistic regression model, more severe depression (OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.18-2.28; p < 0.01) and lower MRI hippocampus volumes (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.19-0.90; p = 0.03) resulted independently associated with fatigue in women, while higher frailty degrees (OR 3.10, 95% CI 1.27-7.54 per 0.1 increase in a 39-item Frailty index; p = 0.01) in men. Fatigue is a complex symptom with a sex-specific pattern of clinical and neurobiological correlates. A better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of these associations is warranted to develop sex-informed approaches for personalized treatments.

Indexed as

FatigueAgedAged, 80 and overDepressionFemaleFrailtyHippocampusHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleSelf ReportSex FactorsAgingFatigueNeurodegenerationSex differences

Identifiers

PMID39129050
PMCPMC11872861

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.