Patients' perspectives of fatigue while undergoing chemotherapy.
OBJECTIVE
To explore the experience of fatigue from the perspective of patients undergoing chemotherapy.


METHODS
Qualitative research and secondary analysis of data from a larger study.


METHODS
Participants were recruited from 18 sites, including large outpatient chemotherapy clinics and private medical oncologists' offices.


METHODS
127 adult patients who were beginning their first protocol of chemotherapy.


METHODS
Data were collected through individual and open-ended interviews and a qualitative, thematic analysis of the participants' responses using grounded theory techniques.


METHODS
The experience of fatigue as perceived by patients undergoing chemotherapy.


RESULTS
The analysis resulted in eight major thematic categories: (a) experiencing fatigue, (b) effects on well-being, (c) attribution of origin, (d) awareness and expectations, (e) emotional reactions, (f) activity, (g) the "biggest" concern, and (h) strategies and plans.


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrates the variation, extent, duration, and temporality of fatigue among patients receiving chemotherapy and the dynamic, changing aspects of the experience.


CONCLUSIONS
Fatigue must be considered within the context of patients' daily lives and environments, disease processes, and treatment modalities. Nurses must listen carefully to patients' own descriptions of being tired. Further research examining patients' perspectives of and experiences related to fatigue is necessary to increase the theoretical understanding of fatigue and to improve therapeutic nursing interventions.
Messias
D K
DK
Department of Community Health Systems, University of California, San Francisco, USA.
Yeager
K A
KA
Dibble
S L
SL
Dodd
M J
MJ
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001364:Awareness; D015400:Clinical Nursing Research; D004644:Emotions; D005221:Fatigue / Q000139:chemically induced*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012647:Self-Assessment
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents