Measuring fatigue in patients with cancer

Richardson, Alison

doi:10.1007/s005200050141

Cited by 40 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(43 reference statements)

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“…Data obtained in retrospect are less reliable for two reasons: (1) the chance is great that recall was distorted (selective memory bias), because 1-36 years had passed between data collection and diagnosis [13,31,39,41]; (2) under the influence of certain life events (such as experience with cancer), internal standards can change (response shift) and cause people to evaluate new situations according to other standards [44]. For example, people can become accustomed to a higher level of fatigue, and after a certain amount of time, report the same QOL as that prior to the illness [38,45]. Such changes in internal standards cannot be reproduced accurately in retrospective studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality of life of survivors of testicular germ cell cancer: a review of the literature

Fleer¹,

Hoekstra²,

Sleijfer

et al. 2004

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Goals of work: Testicular cancer (TC) affects young men in the prime of life. The excellent prognosis and an increasing incidence have led to a growing number of testicular cancer survivors (TCSs). The aim of this review was to summarize and discuss research findings on the quality of life (QOL) of TCSs in terms of physical, psychological, and social well-being. Patients and methods: Literature databases were used to identify studies published between 1980 and 2003. A quality assessment using methodological and treatment-related criteria was performed to distinguish stronger-from poorer-quality studies. Main results: Twenty-three studies met the inclusion criteria. Quality assessment showed that seven studies were qualitatively stronger. The majority of TCSs in both stronger and poorer quality studies reported a good QOL. Prospective and retrospective studies showed that QOL after completion of treatment increased and negative consequences of TC on life decreased compared to the situation directly after diagnosis. The stronger-quality studies reported mainly on physical and psychological well-being but did not examine social well-being and the impact of treatment-related characteristics comprehensively. Conclusions: Both stronger-and poorer-quality studies indicate that the majority of TCSs experience a good QOL, but the shortcomings on both the methodological and content level prevent us from drawing such a conclusion. Additional research with strong designs is needed to gain clearer insight into the QOL of TCSs as a group and of individuals at risk for physical, psychological, and social problems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality of life of survivors of testicular germ cell cancer: a review of the literature

Fleer¹,

Hoekstra²,

Sleijfer

et al. 2004

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“…Although other fatigue scales are available (Richardson, 1998) there is no universally accepted assessment instrument currently available. The FSS was chosen for this study because it is a short questionnaire (an important consideration in suck a sick patient population) which provides a simple unitary measure of global fatigue severity.…”

Section: Questionnairesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fatigue in advanced cancer: a prospective controlled cross-sectional study

et al. 1999

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Summary Uncontrolled studies have reported that fatigue is a common symptom among patients with advanced cancer. It is also a frequent complaint among the general population. Simply asking cancer patients whether or not they feel fatigued does not distinguish between the 'background' level of this symptom in the community and any 'excess' arising as a result of illness. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of fatigue among palliative care inpatients in comparison with a control group of age and sex-matched volunteers without cancer. In addition, the correlates of fatigue were investigated. The prevalence of 'severe subjective fatigue' (defined as fatigue greater than that experienced by 95% of the control group) was found to be 75%. Patients were malnourished, had diminished muscle function and were suffering from a number of physical and mental symptoms. The severity of fatigue was unrelated to age, sex, diagnosis, presence or site of metastases, anaemia, dose of opioid or steroid, any of the haematological or biochemical indices (except urea), nutritional status, voluntary muscle function, or mood. A multivariate analysis found that fatigue severity was significantly associated with pain and dypnoea scores in the patients, and with the symptoms of anxiety and depression in the controls. The authors conclude that subjective fatigue is both prevalent and severe among patients with advanced cancer. The causes of this symptom remain obscure. Further work is required in order to determine if the associations reported between fatigue and pain and between fatigue and dyspnoea are causal or coincidental.Keywords: fatigue; asthenia; neoplasms; palliative care; quality of life 1479British Journal of Cancer (1999) 79(9/10), 1479-1486 © 1999 Cancer Research Campaign Article no. bjoc.1998 Received SUBJECTS AND METHODSInpatients with advanced cancer were recruited from three palliative care units between April 1996 and January 1997. Radiotherapy or chemotherapy within the previous 4 weeks, clinically apparent confusion, poor English language skills, disability or pain affecting the non-dominant hand or an estimated prognosis of less than 2 weeks were all exclusion criteria. The principal investigator visited each of the participating units weekly and approached all patients identified as being eligible to enter the study. In the absence of the principal investigator, due to holidays or illness, recruitment was suspended. Thus, although the patient group did not represent a consecutive series of eligible patients (i.e. it was a convenience sample), there is no reason to suspect a systematic bias in patient selection. Control subjects were age and sex-matched volunteers without cancer. They were recruited from the 'League of Friends' at the respective units and were subjected to the same inclusion and exclusion criteria as the patients. The protocol was approved by the relevant Scientific and Ethics Committees.After informed consent had been obtained, the patients were asked to undergo a number of assessme...

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“…Studies in the past have identified common symptoms that advanced cancer patients may experience; and fatigue, to some degree, seems to be present in the majority of these patients [5]. Fatigue can be described as deficits in energy, mental capacity, and psychological status [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%