Influence of Distress on Fatigue among Breast Cancer Patients: Focusing on Mediating Effect of Quality of Life

Factors associated with distress among female cancer survivors at the workplace: A cross-sectional study

“…This difference can be explained by the fact that previous research included subjects in the “long‐term survival stage,” as well as men and those who were unemployed. Although distress appears throughout all the stages of cancer, those in the acute and extensive stages tend to experience greater distress than those in the long‐term survival stage, where the recurrence rate is significantly reduced, and the activity of cancer cells is negligible 11,12,33 . In this study, 119 participants (65.4%) fell in the normal‐mild stress group, while 63 (34.6%) fell in the severe stress group.…”

“…Cancer distress can be defined as “a multifactorial unpleasant emotional experience of a psychological (i.e., cognitive, behavioral, emotional), social, and/or spiritual nature that may interfere with the ability to cope effectively with cancer, its physical symptoms, and its treatment.” 11 Furthermore, depression, anxiety, and insomnia are reported as typical symptoms of distress 3,8 . Cancer distress is associated with gender, 3,5,9 age, 10 disease stage, 11 socioeconomic status, 7,11 fatigue, 9,12 social support, 13–15 and spirituality, 16 and persists throughout the survival period. Temporary distress is normal, but consistently high levels of distress have a negative effect on cancer patients' life, such as reducing satisfaction and well‐being with cancer and treatment, and delaying adaptation and recovery of daily life 2,3,12 .…”

“…Cancer distress is associated with gender, 3,5,9 age, 10 disease stage, 11 socioeconomic status, 7,11 fatigue, 9,12 social support, 13–15 and spirituality, 16 and persists throughout the survival period. Temporary distress is normal, but consistently high levels of distress have a negative effect on cancer patients' life, such as reducing satisfaction and well‐being with cancer and treatment, and delaying adaptation and recovery of daily life 2,3,12 . Previous studies on the distress of survivors of breast cancer, a representative female cancer, reported that anxiety and depression in breast cancer survivors were higher than in healthy women, 10 and breast cancer survivors' distress level in Korea was higher than in foreign countries 17 .…”

“…To our knowledge, there are few studies in South Korea to investigate the factors that influenced distress in working female cancer survivors 6,16,20 . Furthermore, most distress studies have focused on the breast cancer 6,10–12 and dealt with distress‐related variables in fragments, such as emotional challenges (i.e., mood, depression, anxiety, insomnia, etc. ), spirituality and physical challenges (i.e., fatigue) 6,10–12,16,19,20 .…”

“…Furthermore, most distress studies have focused on the breast cancer 6,10–12 and dealt with distress‐related variables in fragments, such as emotional challenges (i.e., mood, depression, anxiety, insomnia, etc. ), spirituality and physical challenges (i.e., fatigue) 6,10–12,16,19,20 . This study aimed to investigate the levels of fatigue, social support, spiritual well‐being, and distress of female cancer survivors at the workplace, and identify factors associated with distress.…”