Fatigue Experience and Coping Strategies among Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy

Abstract

Background: Cancer is considered one of the foremost common causes of death. Fatigue is among the distressing symptoms for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Adequate coping is essential for individual to deal with the effects of cancer related treatment. The objective of the study was to find out the fatigue experience and coping strategies among cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional research design was used for the study. The samples was taken from day care and medical oncology ward of BP Koirala Memorial Cancer Hospital, Bharatpur. A total of 120 cancer patients receiving chemotherapy of 18 years and above were selected by using non probability consecutive sampling technique. Data was collected by using standard tool, Fatigue Symptom Inventory and Brief Cope. Data analysis was done by descriptive and inferential statistics.Results: The study revealed that 82.5% of respondents had experienced fatigue and 50.8% respondents had used adequate coping strategies where “self distraction”(2.76±1.02) was the most used coping strategy by the respondents. Fatigue experience and coping strategies had negative correlation (r=-0.490, p=<0.001).Conclusions: Majority of the respondents had experienced fatigue, and half of the respondents used adequate coping strategies. The different methods of coping strategies for fatigue and chemotherapy related effects should be expanded as per the best available evidence to lower fatigue and other adverse effects.Keywords: Cancer; chemotherapy; coping strategies; fatigue.

Determinants of Cancer-Related Fatigue among Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review

“…Different types of cancer including lung cancer, 27,45,100 bladder cancer, 46 urogenital cancers, 46 gastrointestinal cancers, 46 colorectal cancers, 100 tumour in left brain, 97 solid tumours, 33 low grade glioma, 86 breast cancer 27,45,46,102 all significantly increased the fatigue in the patients whereas prostate cancer 45,46 does not. Menopausal status, 35,54 advanced stage of the disease, 23,45,54,56,81 duration of the disease, 30 Body mass index (BMI) , 18,26,42,43,54,56,98 number of positive nodes, 43 presence of disability, 61 motor deficits, 86 geriatric impairments, 50 relapsed cancer, 33 presence of comorbid conditions, 12,45,50,59,77,78,86,98 limb volume increase 43 and altered vitals 33,57 were other clinical factors. Several lung function capacities including maximal inspiratory pressure, 87 phase angle, 87 forced vital capacity, 90 forced expiratory pressure 90 were also found to be related to fatigue.…”

“…CRF was negatively affected by different treatment modalities including chemotherapy, 18,26,30,34,35,40,45,57,58,61,73,77,78,89 surgery, 45,49,58 radiation therapy, 38,49,77,78 immunotherapy, 73 endocrine therapy, 40,54,73 need for cortisone 58 and rejection issues 10 (Figure 5). Use of medications like opioids, 32,33,55 analgesics, 56 anti-emetics, 32 anti-epileptic drugs, 32,95 and sleep medications 17 all had a negative impact on CRF.…”

“…Multiple biological markers in blood were found to be significantly associated with cancer- related fatigue (Figure 6). Low haemoglobin or anaemia, 26,32,33,38,56,62,102 low levels of albumin, 13,32,50,103 Sodium and magnesium levels 33,56 were linked with fatigue. CRF was also related with levels of different types of cytokines 52,60,63,66,70,76,82,83,85,88,101 namely Interferon alpha-inducible protein 27, Tumour necrosis factor (TNF-α), modified inflammation-based index (mIBI), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8 level, IGF-I, IGF-II, IGFBP-3, IL-1ra, Transforming growth factor-A, IL-1, IL-1 β , IL-2.…”

“…Behavioural determinants including exercise, 26,54,98 performance status, 17,23,33,34,37,43,46,50,57,68,75,86,90,91,93 diet, 54 intake of juice, 69 hand grip strength, 14,87 sleep quality, 17,19,28,46,104 circadian rhythm 17 were associated with less fatigue (Figure 7). However, daytime dysfunction, 17 daytime sleepiness, 29 excessive and long bedtimes, 97 morningness and eveningness, 29 sleepiness, 59 and smoking and alcoholism 98 were all linked to an increased manifestation of CRF.…”

Clinical and multimodal imaging features of acute macular neuroretinopathy lesions following recent SARS-CoV-2 infection

“…The most common pathogenesis is deep capillary plexus (DCP) ischemia, often associated with a previous upper respiratory infection or influenza [3][4] . Acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) affects various parts of the eye [5][6][7][8] . AMN has been reported to be associated with SARS-CoV-2 in the literatures [9][10] .…”