Factors Affecting the Severity of Fatigue during Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer; an Exploratory Study

Limited studies have examined potential risk factors associated with the fatigue experience of a sample of Puerto Rican men treated with radiotherapy for non-metastatic prostate cancer. Identifying these factors may provide initial information about targets for individualized interventions, leading to more effective management of fatigue in this population.

To examine the relationship of age, body max index, depressive symptoms, physical activity, and sleep disturbance with fatigue during radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

Twenty six participants completed five inventories: demographic intake, health form, the Functional Assessment of Cancer-Therapy-fatigue, Patient-Reported Outcome Measures Information System-Sleep disturbance, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form before, middle/days 19-21 and completion/days 38-42 of radiotherapy. The principal investigator rated the Hamilton depression scale. Descriptive statistics were performed. Interactions and influence of variables on fatigue were assessed using bivariate correlation and multiple linear regression, respectively.

At each study time point, sleep disturbance and depressive symptoms were strongly correlated with each other and fatigue. The linear combination of sleep disturbance and depressive symptoms was significantly related to fatigue.

Given the high association of sleep disturbance and depressive symptoms with fatigue, clinicians should assess and develop interventions to manage these symptoms altogether.