FATIGUE AND RADIOTHERAPY - (B) EXPERIENCE IN PATIENTS 9 MONTHS FOLLOWING TREATMENT

Little is known regarding the prevalence and course of fatigue in canc er patients after treatment has ended and no recurrence found. The pre sent study examines fatigue in disease-free cancer patients after bein g treated with radiotherapy (n = 154). The following questions are add ressed, First, how do patients describe their fatigue 9 months after r adiotherapy and is this different from fatigue in a nonselective sampl e from the general population (n = 139)? Secondly, to what degree is f atigue in patients associated with sociodemographic, medical, physical and psychological factors? Finally, is ii possible to predict which p atients will suffer from fatigue 9 months after radiotherapy? Results indicated that fatigue in disease-free cancer patients did not differ significantly from fatigue in the general population. However, for 34% of the patients, fatigue following treatment was worse than anticipat ed, 39% listed fatigue as one of the three symptoms causing them most distress, 26% of patients worried about their fatigue and patients' ov erall quality oi life was negatively related to fatigue (r = -0.46), F atigue in disease-free patients was significantly associated with: gen der, physical distress, pain rating, sleep quality, functional disabil ity, psychological distress and depression, but not with medical (diag nosis, prognosis, co-morbidity) or treatment-related (target area, tot al radiation dose, fractionation) variables. The degree of fatigue, fu nctional disability and pain before radiotherapy were the best predict ors of fatigue at 9-month follow-up, explaining 30%, 3% and 4% of the variance respectively. These findings are in line with the association s found with fatigue during treatment as reported in the preceding pap er in this issue. The significant associations between fatigue and bot h psychological and physical variables demonstrate the complex aetiolo gy of this symptom in patients and point out the necessity of a multid isciplinary approach for its treatment.