The relationship between fatigue, quality of life, and performance status among cancer patients with anemia

IF 2.3 Q2 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health Pub Date : 2025-01-01 DOI:10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101899

Aditi Sawant Dessai , Jyothi Chakrabarty , B. Sulochana

{"title":"The relationship between fatigue, quality of life, and performance status among cancer patients with anemia","authors":"Aditi Sawant Dessai , Jyothi Chakrabarty , B. Sulochana","doi":"10.1016/j.cegh.2024.101899","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Cancer-related fatigue is defined as “a distressing, persistent, subjective sense of physical, emotional, and cognitive tiredness or exhaustion related to cancer or cancer treatment that is not proportional to recent activity and interferes with usual functioning”. It is distinct from regular tiredness and is a pervasive and disruptive symptom for many patients, impacting daily life and work.</div></div><div><h3>Objectives</h3><div>This paper aims to assess fatigue and performance status experienced by cancer patients with anemia, and to determine the correlation between fatigue, quality of life, and performance status at a selected tertiary care hospital in Udupi district, Karnataka.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>This study, conducted from April 2, 2022, to December 25, 2022, represents a descriptive correlational investigation involving 231 cancer patients experiencing anemia. The participants, aged 21–82 years, were selected using a purposive sampling technique and recruited from a designated tertiary care hospital in the Udupi district of Karnataka.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>The mean fatigue score was 23.93 ± 5.39 whereas the mean Health-related Quality of life and anemia symptoms scores were 62.09 ± 14.19, and 4.28 ± 3.05 respectively. The main variables' linear correlations were evaluated using Spearman's rank correlation. A very strong negative relationship was noted between fatigue and performance status, i.e., (<em>r</em> = −0.796, p = 0.01), a moderate negative relationship existed between anemia symptoms and performance status (<em>r</em> = −0.297, p = 0.01), a strong positive relationship was observed between quality-of-life domains and performance status (<em>r</em> = 0.685, p = 0.01).</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Anaemia causes low-performance status and fatigue among cancer patients. As a result, fatigue lowers quality of life, particularly in terms of physical and mental health. Medical facilities should implement a self-management education program to diagnose and treat fatigue, which is associated with anaemia, low performance status, and a reduction in cancer patients' quality of life.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46404,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health","volume":"31 ","pages":"Article 101899"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213398424003968","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Cancer-related fatigue is defined as “a distressing, persistent, subjective sense of physical, emotional, and cognitive tiredness or exhaustion related to cancer or cancer treatment that is not proportional to recent activity and interferes with usual functioning”. It is distinct from regular tiredness and is a pervasive and disruptive symptom for many patients, impacting daily life and work.

Objectives

This paper aims to assess fatigue and performance status experienced by cancer patients with anemia, and to determine the correlation between fatigue, quality of life, and performance status at a selected tertiary care hospital in Udupi district, Karnataka.

Methods

This study, conducted from April 2, 2022, to December 25, 2022, represents a descriptive correlational investigation involving 231 cancer patients experiencing anemia. The participants, aged 21–82 years, were selected using a purposive sampling technique and recruited from a designated tertiary care hospital in the Udupi district of Karnataka.

Results

The mean fatigue score was 23.93 ± 5.39 whereas the mean Health-related Quality of life and anemia symptoms scores were 62.09 ± 14.19, and 4.28 ± 3.05 respectively. The main variables' linear correlations were evaluated using Spearman's rank correlation. A very strong negative relationship was noted between fatigue and performance status, i.e., (r = −0.796, p = 0.01), a moderate negative relationship existed between anemia symptoms and performance status (r = −0.297, p = 0.01), a strong positive relationship was observed between quality-of-life domains and performance status (r = 0.685, p = 0.01).

Conclusion

Anaemia causes low-performance status and fatigue among cancer patients. As a result, fatigue lowers quality of life, particularly in terms of physical and mental health. Medical facilities should implement a self-management education program to diagnose and treat fatigue, which is associated with anaemia, low performance status, and a reduction in cancer patients' quality of life.

查看原文本刊更多论文

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH-

CiteScore

4.60

自引率

7.70%

发文量

218

审稿时长

66 days

期刊介绍： Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health (CEGH) is a multidisciplinary journal and it is published four times (March, June, September, December) a year. The mandate of CEGH is to promote articles on clinical epidemiology with focus on developing countries in the context of global health. We also accept articles from other countries. It publishes original research work across all disciplines of medicine and allied sciences, related to clinical epidemiology and global health. The journal publishes Original articles, Review articles, Evidence Summaries, Letters to the Editor. All articles published in CEGH are peer-reviewed and published online for immediate access and citation.