title: Patterns of fatigue related to advanced disease and radiotherapy in patients with cancer-a comparative cross-sectional study of fatigue intensity and characteristics.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This cross-sectional comparative study was designed to explore and describe the prevalence and patterns of cancer-related fatigue in patients with advanced cancer as well as patients undergoing curative radiotherapy. Another aim was to explore the association of anxiety and depression with fatigue.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with an advanced stage of disease (n = 228) and patients receiving radiotherapy (n = 81) completed the Borg Category Ratio Scale, the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with advanced disease had an increased probability of experiencing all aspects of fatigue except for mental fatigue as compared to patients undergoing radiation, e.g., odds ratio 11.5 (CI 5.8-22.7) for physical fatigue. Higher scores for depression than for anxiety were reported when patients had high levels of fatigue, with 23% of the patients classified as anxious and 39% depressed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study was carried out in order to address a gap in research by comparing the multidimensional aspects of fatigue in different groups of cancer patients. It is the intensity of fatigue that seems to be related to the underlying exposure to radiation or to the level of disease burden rather than the different fatigue profiles, such as the relation between physical and mental aspects.
authors.affiliation: Research & Development Unit, Stockholms Sjukhem Foundation, Mariebergsgatan 22, Stockholm 112 35, Sweden. carina.lundh@ki.se
authors.forename: Carina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lundh Hagelin
authors.forename: Yvonne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wengström
authors.forename: Carl Johan
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Fürst
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000532:radiotherapy; D010166:Palliative Care; D011594:Psychometrics
references.citation: J Pain Symptom Manage. 2007 Apr;33(4):389-97
references.pmid: 17397700
references.citation: Chest. 1999 Nov;116(5):1208-17
references.pmid: 10559077
references.citation: J Pain Symptom Manage. 2006 Jan;31(1):58-69
references.pmid: 16442483
references.citation: Br J Cancer. 1998 Oct;78(7):899-906
references.pmid: 9764581
references.citation: Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1983 Jun;67(6):361-70
references.pmid: 6880820
references.citation: Br J Cancer. 1999 Mar;79(9-10):1479-86
references.pmid: 10188894
references.citation: Contemp Nurse. 2007 Dec;27(1):29-38
references.pmid: 18386952
references.citation: J Pain Symptom Manage. 2006 Jun;31(6):533-41
references.pmid: 16793493
references.citation: Acta Oncol. 2000;39(4):477-84
references.pmid: 11041109
references.citation: Acta Oncol. 2007;46(1):97-104
references.pmid: 17438711
references.citation: Palliat Med. 2002 Mar;16(2):81-97
references.pmid: 11969152
references.citation: Cancer. 2005 Nov 1;104(9):2022-31
references.pmid: 16206253
references.citation: Nurs Diagn. 1996 Apr-Jun;7(2):51-62
references.pmid: 8716946
references.citation: Arthritis Rheum. 2004 Aug 15;51(4):578-85
references.pmid: 15334430
references.citation: Ann Oncol. 2004 Jun;15(6):896-905
references.pmid: 15151946
references.citation: Cancer. 2002 Jan 15;94(2):512-20
references.pmid: 11900236
references.citation: Support Care Cancer. 2000 May;8(3):175-9
references.pmid: 10789956
references.citation: Br J Cancer. 2001 Nov 16;85(10):1478-85
references.pmid: 11720432
references.citation: Oncol Nurs Forum. 2005 May 10;32(3):633-40
references.pmid: 15897938
references.citation: Curr Oncol Rep. 2005 Jul;7(4):277-82
references.pmid: 15946587
references.citation: Eur J Cancer. 2006 May;42(7):846-63
references.pmid: 16460928
references.citation: J Palliat Med. 2006 Jun;9(3):751-72
references.pmid: 16752981
references.citation: J Psychosom Res. 2002 Feb;52(2):69-77
references.pmid: 11832252
references.citation: Eur J Cancer. 2007 Apr;43(6):1030-6
references.pmid: 17336052
references.citation: Support Care Cancer. 2001 Jul;9(5):355-60
references.pmid: 11497389
references.citation: Support Care Cancer. 2006 Apr;14(4):320-8
references.pmid: 16189646
references.citation: Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2002 Sep-Oct;12(5):424-8
references.pmid: 12366656
references.citation: J Psychosom Res. 1995 Apr;39(3):315-25
references.pmid: 7636775
references.citation: Br J Cancer. 1993 Aug;68(2):220-4
references.pmid: 8347475
references.citation: Br J Cancer. 1996 Jan;73(2):241-5
references.pmid: 8546913
references.citation: Respir Med. 1998 Apr;92(4):676-82
references.pmid: 9659536
references.citation: Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2006 Nov;60(2):152-8
references.pmid: 17023174
references.citation: Ann Oncol. 2000 May;11(5):561-7
references.pmid: 10907949