Long-term fatigue state in postoperative patients with breast cancer

To investigate the prevalence of long-term fatigue, anxiety, depression and social support, and the relationships among these symptoms in postoperative patients with breast cancer.

A total of 180 postoperative patients with breast cancer meeting criterion were recruited in this cross-sectional study. The Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and The Social Support Survey-Chinese version were used to assessing the fatigue, anxiety and depression, Social support of participants. The magnitude of the relationship among the symptoms of fatigue and other variables was measured by Spearman Rho correlation.

The prevalence of long-term fatigue was 52.7%, and 18.3% occurred moderate/severe fatigue. Two-thirds of patients had a basal social support, only 12.8% of patients had better-perceived social support. Results of HADS showed that 16.7% and 21.1% of the participants have anxiety or depression disorder. Moderate/severe fatigue was negatively correlated with social support (r=-0.158, P=0.038) and positively correlated with age (r=0.132, P=0.042), chemotherapy (r=0.297, P=0.027), anxiety (r=0.324, P=0.018) and depression (r=0.211, P=0.034).

Long-term fatigue was highly prevalent among over half of postoperative patients with breast cancer, and moderate/severe fatigue was associated with social and psychological factors such as social support, anxiety and depression. Our results suggest that overall nursing care may be a more effective manner in improving fatigue and quality of life.