Fatigue dimensions in patients with advanced cancer in relation to time of survival and quality of life

Abstract

To understand the relation between fatigue and patients emotional situation at the end of life, this cross-sectional study aimed to explore the association between multidimensional aspects of fatigue, emotional functioning and quality of life (QoL) in patients with advanced cancer at the end of life. Patients with advanced cancer answered fatigue related measurements (Borg Category Ratio-10 scale, Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory-20, Swedish Occupational Fatigue Inventory and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core-30), when admitted for specialised palliative care. A total of 228 patients with a median length of survival of 63 days were included. In relation to time of survival, fatigue increased closer to death, in both global and multidimensional aspects, as well as the patient's experience of being sleepy. Marital status was found to affect the experience of fatigue in both global and multidimensional ratings of fatigue. The association between the experience of fatigue and feelings of being tense, worried, irritable or depressed and rated QoL decreased and was not evident closer to death. Fatigue in all dimensions increased, as patients got closer to death. The association between fatigue and both QoL and negative emotions faded away during the last days and weeks of life.

Association between Daytime Activity, Fatigue, Sleep, Anxiety, Depression, and Symptom Burden in Advanced Cancer Patients: A Preliminary Report

“…While it could be expected that a lower level of daytime activity is related to increased age, worse FWB, worse dyspnea, longer sleep time, and low SA (as a measure of 42 in a recent study on fatigue toward end of life found decrease in anxiety due to fatigue in terminally ill patients. They postulated that this lack of anxiety due to fatigue could be as a result of change in the values or priorities and as a means of adaptation to the situation (response shift).…”

Is Iron Deficiency in the Absence of Anemia Associated With Fatigue in Inflammatory Bowel Disease?

“…(2)(3)(4)(5)(6). It is also quite prevalent in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (7)(8)(9)(10)(11) and has been shown to adversely affect quality of life (9).…”

Association Between Quality of Life, Demographic Characteristics, Physical Symptoms, and Unmet Needs in Inpatients Receiving End-of-Life Care

“…[24][25][26] In the present study, noncancer patients had lower quality of life in the area of physical health, higher levels of fatigue, and dyspnea. By contrast, pain was identified as a more burdening symptom by cancer patients in the present study.…”

“…[16][17][18][19] Health-related quality-of-life measures have been increasingly used to evaluate differences in quality of life based on the setting and type of care provided 20,21 and type of illness 22 as well as to determine factors that might influence the patients' quality of life. [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] Some studies showed associations between quality of life and sociodemographic characteristics of patients, 21 type of illness, 22 type of intervention, 23 physical symptom burden, [24][25][26][27] patients' functional status, 25 and unmet needs. [28][29][30][31] The Czech Ministry of Health funded a project supporting research into quality of life in palliative care.…”