Fatigue and health related quality of life in children and adolescents with cancer.
Michelle Darezzo Rodrigues Nunes, Eufemia Jacob, Emiliana Omena Bomfim and 4 others
PMID 28720264WHAT IT FOUND
66.7% of hospitalized children and adolescents with cancer had fatigue scores suggesting fatigue was often or almost always a problem.
Fatigue was linked to lower quality of life in physical, emotional and school areas; social quality of life did not differ.
Key findings
0166.7% of participants had fatigue scores below 75, suggesting fatigue was often or almost always a problem.
02Total fatigue scores were strongly correlated with generic quality-of-life scores (r=0.63) and cancer-module quality-of-life scores (r=0.74).
03Patients with fatigue had lower generic quality-of-life total scores than patients without fatigue (55.7 ± 15.5 vs 73.0 ± 14.1, p=0.002).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 38 children and adolescents were studied, so results may not apply broadly. All data came from one pediatric oncology inpatient unit in São Paulo, Brazil. Diagnoses and treatment protocols varied, and the small number meant the study could not compare fatigue and quality of life by diagnosis or treatment protocol. The study was cross-sectional, so it could not show how fatigue and quality of life change over time or prove cause and effect. The Brazilian sleep/rest fatigue scale was less reliable than the other fatigue dimensions. The study did not test fatigue management interventions.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the correlations as proof that fatigue causes lower quality of life; the study measured both at one time point. Do not assume the exercise, healing touch, leisure activities or sleep hygiene strategies named in the nursing implications were tested or shown to improve fatigue or quality of life.