The lived experience of fatigue in children and adolescents with cancer: a systematic review

Abstract

Purpose Objectives of this systematic review were to summarize how fatigue has been described from the perspective of children and adolescents with cancer, the impact of fatigue on quality of life, and child reported contributing factors and potential alleviators of fatigue. Methods We conducted electronic searches of Ovid Medline, EMBASE, PsycInfo, Science Citation, Social Science Citation (Web of Science), and CINAHL. We included studies of children and adolescents with cancer in which the experience of fatigue was described by the child/adolescent. The search was restricted to publications in English. Themes were summarized. Results Eleven studies were represented in 18 publications. Ages of included children ranged from 6 to 19 years. Majority of studies used semi-structured interviews to elicit participant's perceptions of fatigue. Terms used to describe fatigue included the following: tiredness, weary, loss of strength, dizziness, feeling drained, feeling drowsy, lacking motivation, exhaustion, and feeling emotional. Impact of fatigue related to not being able to participate in regular activities; needing to sleep or rest more; and impact on psychosocial health. Perceived alleviators of fatigue included exercise, distraction, rest, eating, and drinking. Conclusions Fatigue is impactful from the perspective of children and adolescents. Future research should focus on prospective exploration of the impact of fatigue on pediatric cancer patients and identifying approaches to reduce fatigue.

Sleep Quality, Fatigue, and Quality of Life Among Teenage and Young Adult Cancer Survivors

“…Another review of mainly qualitative studies described the impact of fatigue on children and adolescents with cancer as an increased need to sleep and rest, and therefore to not being able to take part in regular activities. 40 The finding that sleep quality was strongly associated with HR-QoL among TYA survivors is in line with past research involving TYA and adult cancer survivors. Associations between increased sleep-wake disturbances and impaired cancer-related quality of life were observed in a small sample of TYAs receiving chemotherapy.…”

Prevalence and impact of severe fatigue in adolescent and young adult cancer patients in comparison with population-based controls

“…Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is one of the most common and distressing symptoms reported by adult and childhood cancer patients both during and after cancer treatment [6, 7]. The most commonly used definition for CRF is formulated by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and defines CRF as “ a distressing, persistent, subjective sense of physical, emotional, and/or cognitive tiredness or exhaustion related to cancer or cancer treatment that is not proportional to recent activity that interferes with usual functioning ” [8].…”

Longitudinal development of cancer‐related fatigue and physical activity in childhood cancer patients

“…Cancer‐related fatigue is one of the most common and distressing side effects of childhood cancer treatment . Cancer‐related fatigue is associated with other sequalae that occur in childhood cancer patients, such as depressive symptoms and impaired quality of life …”

“…Cancer-related fatigue is one of the most common and distressing side effects of childhood cancer treatment. [1][2][3] Cancer-related fatigue is associated with other sequalae that occur in childhood cancer patients, such as depressive symptoms and impaired quality of life. [4][5][6] The National Cancer Institute has made high-priority research recommendations for studies on cancer-related fatigue.…”