Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Evaluating the Role of Mitochondrial Function in Cancer-related Fatigue
Published on: May 17, 2018
Patient-related barriers to fatigue communication in cancer patients receiving active treatment
Shiow-Ching Shun1, Yeur-Hur Lai, Fei-Hsiu Hsiao
1Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. scshun@ntu.edu.tw
Objective:
To explore barriers to reporting fatigue in cancer patients receiving active treatment and the significant factors associated with those barriers from fatigue characteristics (i.e., intensity, duration, and interference with daily life), to demographic characteristics and disease/treatment variables.
Methods:
Patients with various types of cancer (n = 288) were recruited from an outpatient chemotherapy center, and from seven oncology and hematology units in a teaching hospital in northern Taiwan. Data were collected using the Fatigue Management Barriers Questionnaire to explore barriers to fatigue communication.
Results:
Fear of distracting the doctor was rated as the highest barrier of reporting fatigue. The degree of fatigue interference with daily life by patients was associated with the willingness to report fatigue. Patients with gastrointestinal cancer experienced more barriers to reporting fatigue than those with hematological cancer. Patients without religion perceived the highest level of barriers to fatigue communication. Outpatients had higher levels of concern than inpatients.
Conclusions:
Discussion with patients about their high level of perceived fatigue barriers before implementing patient education is recommended. Assessing fatigue interference with daily life and identifying factors associated with barriers to reporting fatigue (i.e., type of cancer, religion, and the setting for receiving treatment) are suggested in order to provide better fatigue management in clinical settings.
Related Concept Videos
Barriers to Effective Communication II
Cultural barriers:
Differences in values, beliefs, religion, knowledge, and tradition can significantly impact communication. Awareness of nonverbal cues is critical, especially when conversing with a patient from a different culture. What appears appropriate in one culture may be inappropriate in another.
Semantic barriers:
As a result of their tendency to use...
Nursing Ethical Principles II
Consider the following scenario, which illustrates how these principles are applied in the care of Mr. John, a fifty-year-old teacher diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer.
Initially, Mr. John's cancer...
Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
Barriers to Effective Communication I
Communication barriers include the following:
Physiological barriers: They are limitations caused by a person's health condition or disability, such as hearing loss, poor eyesight, illness, or unconsciousness. An example to overcome this barrier...
Heart Failure VII: Nursing Interventions
Treatment Resistent Cancers
