PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to identify degrees of fatigue and influencing factors for fatigue in cancer patients. METHOD: Data was collected by questionnaires from 115 cancer patients at 3 hospitals in Seoul. The research instruments utilized in this study were fatigue, physical symptoms, depression, family support, and health promoting behaviors. Data was analyzed using the pearson correlation, t-test, ANOVA, and stepwise multiple regression with SPSS/WIN 12.0. RESULT: The mean score of fatigue for cancer patients was 12.90(range: 6-36). Fatigue for cancer patients according to age group and weight change showed a significant difference. Fatigue for cancer patients showed a significantly positive correlation to physical symptoms and depression. There was a negative correlation between family support and health promoting behaviors. The significant factors influencing fatigue for cancer patients were physical symptoms, health promoting behaviors, depression, and age group, which explained about 45.9%. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that symptoms and depression management, nursing interventions and practices for providing health promoting behaviors according to age are needed to manage the fatigue in cancer patients.
Adult ; Aged ; Analysis of Variance ; Attitude to Health ; Demography ; Fatigue/*etiology ; Female ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Models, Nursing ; Neoplasms/*complications/nursing ; Questionnaires

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to identify comprehensive predictors of fatigue in cancer patients. METHODS: One hundred ten cancer patients visiting in-patient or out-patient clinics of a university hospital located in Incheon participated in this study. RESULTS: The hematologic indicators (WBC and Hemoglobin) were significant for explaining fatigue. The psychological factors of fatigue were statistically significant. Both anxiety and depression, included as psychological factors, were significant in explaining fatigue in cancer patients. The influence of physical factors on fatigue was also statistically significant. Among the variables included as physical factors, pain, nausea/vomiting/anorexia, and sleep disturbance were significant whereas, dyspnea was not significant. The influence of the daily activity factor on fatigue was statistically significant. Among the variables included as daily activity factors, regular exercise or not and the usual activity level were significant in explaining fatigue of cancer patients, while the level of rest was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: From the study results fatigue of cancer patients appeared to be influenced by multidimensional factors, such as physiological, physical, psychological, and activity related factors.
Activities of Daily Living ; Adaptation, Physiological ; Adult ; Aged ; Fatigue/etiology/*nursing ; Female ; Health Status ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Models, Nursing ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasms/complications/*nursing ; Sick Role ; Sickness Impact Profile

PURPOSE: Fatigue is the third most common "extraintestinal" complaint of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but it is still poorly understood. This study aimed to review characteristics of IBS-associated fatigue and to examine pooled frequency, severity of fatigue, and correlations of related factors with fatigue in IBS via meta-analyses. METHODS: Publications were searched in eight databases from 1995 to 2014. Random effects meta-analyses were applied with standard error, weighted effect size, and correlation-based measure of effect size. RESULTS: Twenty-four studies were included in systematic review. Seventeen studies were used for meta-analyses (2 studies were excluded in the frequency of fatigue analysis due to data unavailability). Using "tiredness" to define fatigue, and Fatigue Impact Scale to assess fatigue were the most frequently used across the studies. Gastrointestinal symptoms, psychological distress, and health-related quality of life were the most common correlates with fatigue. The pooled frequency of fatigue was 54.2% [95% confidence interval (38.5, 69.4)]. Metaregression on the frequency of fatigue showed positive and significant relations with tertiary care settings, female sex, and younger age. There was a negatively moderate relationship between the severity of fatigue and health-related quality of life score (correlation-based measure of effect size: -.378). CONCLUSIONS: Fatigue is prevalent among patients with IBS and commonly co-occurs with other symptoms. This is the first study to fully examine fatigue in IBS, which shed light on the comprehensive management of fatigue in this patient group. Future research is warranted to further explore fatigue-related factors and underlying mechanisms of fatigue in IBS.
Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Fatigue/*etiology/*nursing ; Female ; Humans ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome/*complications/*physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; *Quality of Life ; Severity of Illness Index ; Sex Factors ; Stress, Psychological