Nurse-Led Interventions in Managing Cancer-Related Fatigue: A Systematic Review

Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is common among patients with cancer. Various interventions have been reported to reduce fatigue, and some evidence suggests that nurse-led interventions may be effective in the management of CRF. A systematic review was conducted to assess the effectiveness of nurse-led interventions for CRF in patients with cancer and survivors.

The aim of this study was to review and appraise the evidence for the effectiveness of different types of nurse-led interventions on fatigue in patients with cancer and survivors.

Electronic databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect were searched to identify studies published from January 2013 to October 2023. The studies that described nurse-led interventions in patients with cancer or survivors regardless of treatment duration, modes of intervention delivery, and any based intervention were included. The studies were excluded if no fatigue was an outcome measure.

Twelve studies from 2013 to 2023 were included and eligible for the review. Nine studies obtained a Jadad score of 3 or more, indicating high quality for the quality assessment. Eleven of the included studies reported a significant effect of the nurse-led interventions in reducing fatigue in patients with cancer or survivors.

Nurse-led interventions that focus on multidisciplinary, exercise, psychological, and behavioral approaches appear promising in the management of CRF. More research is needed in order to determine the most acceptable forms of intervention.

The development of evidence-based interventions for managing CRF is significant to nursing practice.