Abstract
Fatigue is a debilitating and common condition in cancer patients. This study examined pretreatment predictors of fatigue before chemotherapy and also assessed whether these could prospectively predict fatigue posttreatment. A total of 100 patients completed questionnaires assessing psychological factors, physical activity and sleep. A subsample of 26 participants wore actigraphs to objectively assess sleep/wake and activity/rest. Fatigue was measured pretreatment and posttreatment and at follow-up several months later. Greater pretreatment pain, depression, stress and sleep disruption significantly predicted greater fatigue before chemotherapy, explaining 55 percent of the variance. Pretreatment fatigue significantly predicted post-treatment fatigue. No other significant prospective predictors of posttreatment fatigue emerged.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 699-710 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Journal of Health Psychology |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jun 2014 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- cancer
- health care
- health psychology
- illness
- outcomes
- psychological distress
- side effects
