A transitory ischemic attack, also known as mini stroke, typically defined as a temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain that causes symptoms that disappear in one day, but a new study finds that people who have this type of stroke can also have prolonged fatigue that last up to a year. The study is published on May 14, 2025, online in Neurology®The Medical Journal of The American Academy of Neurology (AAN). The study does not prove that mini stroke cause lasting fatigue; It only shows an association.
“People with a transitional ischemic attack can have symptoms such as the fall of the face, the weakness of the arm or the speech dragged and are resolved in a day,” said the author of the study Boris Proju, MD, PHD, of the Hospital of the University of Aalborg in Denmark. “However, some have reported continuous challenges that include a reduced quality of life, problems of thought, depression, anxiety and fatigue. Our study found that for some people, fatigue was a common symptom that lasted up to a year after the transient ischemic attack.”
The study involved 354 people with an average age of 70 years who had a mini stroke. They were followed for a year.
The participants completed questionnaires about their fatigue level within the first two weeks of the mini stroke and again at three, six and 12 months later.
A questionnaire analyzed five different types of fatigue, which include general tiredness, physical fatigue, reduced activity, reduced motivation and mental fatigue. The scores varied from four to 20 with higher scores that indicate more fatigue. The participants had an average score of 12.3 at the beginning of the study. At three months, the average score decreased slightly to 11.9, at six months to 11.4 already twelve months to 11.1.
The researchers analyzed how many participants experienced fatigue as defined as a score of 12 or more. Of the participants, 61% experienced fatigue two weeks after the mini stroke and 54% experienced fatigue in each of the other three periods of trial time at three, six and 12 months.
Participants also had brain scanning. The researchers found that the presence of a transfer clot in a scan was the same among people with long -term fatigue and those without it, so this did not explain the reason for the level of fatigue.
The researchers found that previous anxiety or depression was twice as common in those participants who reported lasting fatigue.
“Long -term fatigue was common in our group of study participants, and we discovered that if people experience fatigue within two weeks after the hospital departure, they are likely to continue having fatigue up to one year,” said Modrau. “For future studies, people diagnosed with a transient ischemic attack must be followed in the weeks and months that continue to be evaluated for persistent fatigue. This could help us better understand who could fight with long -term fatigue and require more attention.”
A limitation of the study was that, although participants were asked to complete the questionnaires themselves, some answers have been completed with the assistance of relatives or caregivers and this may have influenced the answers, including people with fatigue.
The study was supported by the Danish physiotherapy association.