Fatigue in patients receiving chemotherapy: patterns of change
Fatigue in patients receiving chemotherapy: patterns of change
Fatigue is reported to be a significant and distressing problem for people receiving chemotherapy, but the phenomenon is poorly understood and little is known about the factors influencing it. Nurses need to understand the dimensions of fatigue in order to provide effective help for individuals with cancer who experience it. This article describes a study that employed a daily diary with the aim of prospectively charting the onset, pattern, duration, intensity, and distress associated with fatigue in 109 patients receiving chemotherapy. The diary comprised four visual analogue scales measuring selected dimensions of fatigue: extent of fatigue, distress caused by fatigue, the influence of fatigue on the ability to engage in social activities, and the impact of fatigue on work-related activities. The patients' diaries produced detailed time series of data that captured the dynamics of their fatigue. Analyses of these data revealed the patterns of fatigue after the administration of chemotherapy, which appear strongly related to both the timing of treatment and the manner in which cytotoxic agents are administered. Furthermore, Kruskal-Wallis tests performed to compare fatigue among subgroups of patients revealed that it is statistically associated with particular types of cancer, specific chemotherapy regimens, and certain methods of drug administration. Fatigue varied throughout the day, more frequently occurring in the afternoon and early evening. These insights, gained during this study about the likely pattern of fatigue in the period after the administration of chemotherapy, and the potential benefits of maintaining a fatigue diary could be utilized by nurses engaged in the care of chemotherapy patients
17-30
Richardson, Alison
3db30680-aa47-43a5-b54d-62d10ece17b7
Ream, Emma
cac5aaf5-797c-4aff-b86f-ea717ac178fa
Wilson-Barnett, Jenifer
da51780b-9569-4ee2-bd6d-0dd5e93d3ada
February 1998
Richardson, Alison
3db30680-aa47-43a5-b54d-62d10ece17b7
Ream, Emma
cac5aaf5-797c-4aff-b86f-ea717ac178fa
Wilson-Barnett, Jenifer
da51780b-9569-4ee2-bd6d-0dd5e93d3ada
Richardson, Alison, Ream, Emma and Wilson-Barnett, Jenifer
(1998)
Fatigue in patients receiving chemotherapy: patterns of change.
Cancer Nursing, 21 (1), .
(doi:10.1097/00002820-199802000-00003).
Abstract
Fatigue is reported to be a significant and distressing problem for people receiving chemotherapy, but the phenomenon is poorly understood and little is known about the factors influencing it. Nurses need to understand the dimensions of fatigue in order to provide effective help for individuals with cancer who experience it. This article describes a study that employed a daily diary with the aim of prospectively charting the onset, pattern, duration, intensity, and distress associated with fatigue in 109 patients receiving chemotherapy. The diary comprised four visual analogue scales measuring selected dimensions of fatigue: extent of fatigue, distress caused by fatigue, the influence of fatigue on the ability to engage in social activities, and the impact of fatigue on work-related activities. The patients' diaries produced detailed time series of data that captured the dynamics of their fatigue. Analyses of these data revealed the patterns of fatigue after the administration of chemotherapy, which appear strongly related to both the timing of treatment and the manner in which cytotoxic agents are administered. Furthermore, Kruskal-Wallis tests performed to compare fatigue among subgroups of patients revealed that it is statistically associated with particular types of cancer, specific chemotherapy regimens, and certain methods of drug administration. Fatigue varied throughout the day, more frequently occurring in the afternoon and early evening. These insights, gained during this study about the likely pattern of fatigue in the period after the administration of chemotherapy, and the potential benefits of maintaining a fatigue diary could be utilized by nurses engaged in the care of chemotherapy patients
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Published date: February 1998
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Local EPrints ID: 69084
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/69084
ISSN: 0162-220X
PURE UUID: 82123203-e369-4d7c-b9c6-9170f92e8838
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Date deposited: 06 Jan 2010
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:55
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Author:
Emma Ream
Author:
Jenifer Wilson-Barnett
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