title: Prospective assessment of fatigue and health status in Greek patients with breast cancer undergoing adjuvant radiotherapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe fatigue in women with breast cancer undergoing radiotherapy and to explore the impact of fatigue on their health status.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective, descriptive, repeated measures.
  
  
  METHODS
  A major oncology center, Saint Savvas Cancer Hospital, in Athens, Greece.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutive sample of 106 women (mean age = 55 + 12), with histologically confirmed diagnosis for stage I or II breast cancer who were receiving adjuvant radiotherapy for approximately six weeks.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected with the Revised Piper Fatigue Scale (PFS) and the Short Form-36 (SF-36) Health Survey Scale in the first two days of radiotherapy (T0), during the third week (T1), and during the last week of treatment (T2).
  
  
  METHODS
  Fatigue, health status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Across-subjects analysis revealed that fatigue increased during radiotherapy in patients with breast cancer regardless of stage, type of surgery, or whether they received chemotherapy (p 0.05). Between-subject analysis revealed that no differences existed in the PFS between different groups (chemotherapy versus no chemotherapy, breast conservation versus mastectomy, stage I versus stage II) at each measurement point. A negative correlation was found between the subscales of the PFS and all of the subscales of the SF-36.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Fatigue intensity increased significantly during the course of radiotherapy, and patients experienced a significant deterioration in their overall health status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings contribute to the growing body of evidence regarding fatigue and its impact on health status in Greek patients with breast cancer and provide insights for effective nursing assessment, patient education, and symptom management.
authors: Agioi Anargiroi Cancer Hospital, Athens, Greece. lavda@acn.gr
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Lavdaniti
authors: Elisabeth
authors: E
authors: Patiraki
authors: Urania
authors: U
authors: Dafni
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Katapodi
authors: Elizabeth
authors: E
authors: Papathanasoglou
authors: Anastasia
authors: A
authors: Sotiropoulou