Potsdam, NY, Dec. 13, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Associate Physical Therapy Professor Ali Boolani has published a study on identifying factors predicting feelings of energy and fatigue in graduate health science students, using multiple domains. The goal of the study was to determine if energy and fatigue mood states are “two sides of one coin or two different coins,” said Boolani.  

The results of the study revealed that energy and fatigue are two overlapping, yet distinct moods. Factors normally associated with greater fatigue (basal metabolic rate and mitochondrial function) were associated with decreased feelings of energy and not with increased feelings of fatigue. “This implies that fatigue and energy are indeed two separate moods and not the opposite ends of one mood,” said Boolani. Poor sleep resulted in decreased feelings of energy and increased feelings of fatigue. The study found that for students, their perceived mental workload on non-school days was associated with feelings of fatigue. Specifically, “more mental workload on non-school days made you feel more fatigued but not less energetic,” Boolani said.  The study also found that increased time spent sitting also increased feelings of fatigue but didn’t impact feelings of energy.

Boolani has done a great deal of research on fatigue, but this study is different. “This is the first study of this kind that has simultaneously explored factors both known and factors hypothesized to be associated with energy and fatigue to determine how they predicted feelings of energy and fatigue separately,” said Boolani said.

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