The present study investigated the relationship between fatigue, age, and gender in a multiculturally and socioeconomically diverse community-based urban sample. The impact of age and gender on fatigue severity was examined in a group of 3,692 African Americans and then compared to results from 9,717 Caucasians and 3,450 Latinos. Findings indicated that for African Americans, there was a significant gender by age interaction. African American women had significantly higher rates of fatigue when compared to African American men. Older African American men had significantly higher rates of fatigue than younger African American men. However, there was no significant difference in the levels of fatigue reported by younger and older African American women. An age and gender interaction was also present for the Caucasian sample but not for the Latino sample. Findings suggest that age and gender are important in predicting the severity of fatigue in an African American sample.
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