Correlation between Fatigue and Quality of Life in Adolescent Oncology Patients in Jordan

Abstract

Background Adolescence represents a distinct and multifaceted developmental stage characterized by profound physical and cognitive transformations. Adolescents undergoing cancer treatment frequently have unique needs that remain unmet, leading to a notable decline in their quality of life. Cancer treatment often results in problems like fatigue, which affects patients' quality of life. Assessing quality of life and fatigue among adolescent cancer patients is essential for enhancing nursing care and improving outcomes. Objective This study aimed to investigate the correlation between fatigue and quality of life among adolescent cancer patients in Jordan. Methods A “cross-sectional” study was performed, with the participation of 127 Jordanian adolescent cancer patients, and data was collected through a nameless online survey of Jordanian adolescent cancer patients. The study commenced in February 2024 and concluded in June 2024. Demographic data and responses from two self-reported questionnaires—the Arabic versions of “Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory” “Multidimensional Fatigue Scale” and “Generic Core 4.0”—were collected. Descriptive statistics of means, frequencies, standard deviations, and percentages were used with demographics while inferential statistics were conducted using independent t-tests, Spearman's rank correlation coefficients, and Kruskal-Wallis tests in SPSS, version 26. Results Significant and potent correlations were found between various types of fatigue “general, sleep/rest, cognitive, and total” and quality of life “physical, emotional, social, school, psychosocial health”. Notably, the total fatigue scores showed a potent correlation with the total summary scores (r=0.946), with a p-value significant at the <0.001 level for all correlations, indicating that adolescents with cancer experienced high fatigue and low quality of life. Conclusion The study demonstrated a potent link between fatigue and quality of life. The study's outcomes can help enhance guidelines for routine evaluation of fatigue and quality of life by nurses and healthcare providers in adolescent cancer patients to implement and evaluate interventions aimed at reducing fatigue in patients, highlighting fatigue as a significant concern. Future research should explore interventions such as exercise, leisure activities, and sleep to alleviate fatigue. Longitudinal research is essential to assess fatigue at diverse times of the day and week; this could help develop tailored fatigue management strategies to augment the quality of life among adolescent oncology patients.