A study evaluated fatigue in 201 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in China and found that fatigue affected 58.7% of them, with a mean fatigue score of 4.36 ± 1.18. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that higher fatigue is associated with depression, illness perception, pain and worse sleep quality. Conversely, higher social support and physical activity were related to lower fatigue. Fatigue was also influenced by monthly household income and education level. No significant association was observed between fatigue and anxiety, disease activity, age or work status. The results suggest that the treatment of fatigue in patients with SLE should target modifiable factors that are not directly related to disease activity.