Impact of fatigue on quality of life among breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy

• Main Authors: Karuppannan, M. (Author), Mohammed, A.H (Author), Muthanna, F.M.S (Author), Rasool Hassan, B.A (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency 2021
• Series: Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives
• Subjects: adult; aged; antineoplastic agent; Article; breast cancer; Breast neoplasms; cancer chemotherapy; cancer combination chemotherapy; cancer fatigue; cancer patient; cancer staging; Chemotherapy; cyclophosphamide; disease severity; docetaxel; doxorubicin; drug dose reduction; epirubicin; ethnicity; Fatigue; Fatigue Severity Scale; female; fluorouracil; Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy General; Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Fatigue Scale; human; incidence; major clinical study; multiple cycle treatment; observational study; paclitaxel; priority journal; prospective study; quality of life; Quality of life; risk factor
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher; View in Scopus
• ISBN: 22109099 (ISSN)
• DOI: 10.24171/J.PHRP.2021.12.2.09

Objectives: Fatigue is the most frequently reported symptom experienced by cancer patients and has a profound effect on their quality of life (QOL). The study aimed to determine the impact of fatigue on QOL among breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and to identify the risk factors associated with severe fatigue incidence. Methods: This was an observational prospective study carried out at multiple centers. In total, 172 breast cancer patients were included. The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue Questionnaire was used to measure QOL, while the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI) was used to assess the severity of fatigue. Results: The total average mean and standard deviation of QOL were 84.58±18.07 and 4.65±1.14 for BFI scores, respectively. A significant association between fatigue and QOL was found in linear and multiple regression analyses. The relationships between fatigue severity and cancer stage, chemotherapy dose delay, dose reduction, chemotherapy regimen, and ethnicity were determined using binary logistic regression analysis. Conclusion: The findings of this study are believed to be useful for helping oncologists effectively evaluate, monitor, and treat fatigue related to QOL changes. © 2021 Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.