Table 1 Focus Group Questions

1. Tell us about the fatigue you experience with your arthritis. Do you ever feel fatigued? What is it like?

2. When you think of fatigue and sleepiness, do you see them as different? How?

3. What do you think causes your fatigue?

4. How does your arthritis affect your fatigue?

5. What, if anything, has an effect on your fatigue? What makes you more fatigued/less fatigued?

6. What, if anything, has been the impact of this fatigue on your life?

7. What changes or modifications have you made to cope with your fatigue?

8. Have you noticed any relationship between your fatigue and how you feel including changes in other symptoms or changes in emotions or mood? [If they see as related: Tell me more, does one come first, does one lead to the other or one cause the other for you?]

9. Do you talk about your fatigue with others? With who? What do you tell them?

10. We all have experiences of fatigue in our lives due to various problems. What makes your arthritis fatigue different from other kinds of fatigue?