Fatigue, Mood, and Sleep, During Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy: A Pilot Case Control Study

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Gynecologic Oncology
• Cancer Patient Care

Background:

• Ovarian cancer treatment often involves chemotherapy.
• Intraperitoneal (IP) and intravenous (IV) chemotherapy are common administration routes.
• Understanding the impact of different chemotherapy routes on patient well-being is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare longitudinal changes in fatigue, depressive symptoms, sleep, and activity.
• To evaluate outcomes in women with ovarian cancer receiving IP versus IV chemotherapy.

Main Methods:

• Pilot study with 10 women undergoing chemotherapy for ovarian cancer.
• Self-report measures for fatigue and depressive symptoms.
• Wrist actigraphy for sleep and activity monitoring.
• Assessment before and after the first chemotherapy infusion.

Main Results:

• Both IP and IV groups showed increased fatigue and depressive symptoms, and decreased sleep and activity (p<.05).
• Larger effect sizes for within-group changes were observed in the IP group.
• IP patients trended towards more severe post-chemotherapy symptoms compared to IV patients (p<.10).

Conclusions:

• Intraperitoneal chemotherapy may lead to more pronounced increases in fatigue and depressive symptoms.
• IP chemotherapy is associated with greater alterations in sleep and activity patterns.
• These findings highlight potential differences in patient-reported outcomes based on chemotherapy administration route.