Korean J Med.
2007 Nov;73(5):512-518.
The prevalence of fatigue in cancer patients at St. Vincent's hospital
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Internal Medicine, St. Vincent's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medcine, Suwon, Korea. kimhoonkyo@yahoo.co.kr
Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Fatigue is one of the most common problems in terminally ill cancer patients in North America and Europe. However, fatigue has been almost neglected by health care professionals and even by patients and their families in Korea. We studied the prevalence and characteristics of fatigue in cancer patients who were admitted to St. Vincent's Hospital.
METHODS
Ninety-three competent patients who were admitted to the cancer or hospice ward were asked to answer whether they had fatigue or other cancer related problems on three occasions on April 4, 11 and 18, 2006. Additional demographic data were also analyzed.
RESULTS
Thirty (32.3%) of the 93 patients responded that they had fatigue. The response was from 20/71 male and 10/22 female patients. The median age was 66 years (range 35-84 years). The ECOG performance status was 1, 2 and 3 in 10, 12 and 8 patients respectively. Lung cancer (21 patients) was the most common malignancy followed by gastric cancer, colon cancer and other cancers. Fourteen patients received chemotherapy, 13 patients received supportive care and 3 patients received chemoradiotherapy. Other cancer related symptoms were pain (17 patients), anorexia (16 patients), sleep disturbance (14 patients), and anxiety and depression. The severity of fatigue was grade 1, 2, 3 in 17, 6 and 7 patients respectively. Twenty-eight patients had anemia based on the WHO scale, and there was no relationship between the grade of fatigue and hemoglobin level.
CONCLUSIONS
Fatigue was a frequent symptom in cancer patients (32%) and more frequent in female patients (45%). More attention needs to be paid to the significance of fatigue in cancer patients.
