J Gynecol Oncol.  2013 Jul;24(3):280-286. 10.3802/jgo.2013.24.3.280.

The course of fatigue in patients with gynecologic and breast cancer

• Vollrath M
• Zenger M
• Singer S
• Einenkel J
• Hinz A

• KMID: 2288536
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3802/jgo.2013.24.3.280

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study is to examine the course of fatigue in female cancer patients during the first months after treatment.
METHODS
We examined a sample of 110 patients suffering from gynecological or breast cancer. Fatigue was assessed with two questionnaires, the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI) and the fatigue scale of the quality of life questionnaire European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC QLQ-C30). Participants were tested during their stay in the hospital (t1), two weeks after discharge (t2), and three months after discharge (t3).
RESULTS
Fatigue in the patients' sample was markedly higher than the general population reference values. At t1, the effect sizes are d=0.81 (MFI) and d=1.21 (EORTC QLQ-C30 fatigue scale). Age and tumor stage had no significant influence on fatigue, but patients with a long time since diagnosis had higher fatigue levels than patients with a shorter time since diagnosis. From t1 to t3, fatigue mean scores decreased. The correlations between the t1 and the t3 fatigue scores were weak, with correlation coefficients of only about 0.30.
CONCLUSION
Though the mean scores of fatigue, averaged across all patients, decreased over the first three months, the individual courses could not be predicted from the t1 score.

Keyword

Change; Fatigue; Psychological wellbeing; Psycho-oncology; Quality of life

MeSH Terms

Breast
Breast Neoplasms
Fatigue
Female
Humans
Quality of Life
Reference Values
Stress, Psychological
Surveys and Questionnaires

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI) fatigue mean scores for patients and controls (general population). t1, stay at hospital; t2, two weeks after discharge; t3, three months after discharge.

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