Daily fatigue patterns and effect of exercise in women with breast cancer

OBJECTIVES: Cancer treatment-related fatigue is a common and disruptive sid e effect of chemotherapy. Exercise is an intervention proposed to reduce fa tigue in cancer patients. The purpose of this study was to describe the pat terns of daily fatigue in women with breast cancer who did and did not exer cise while receiving the first three cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Women received instruction to follow an 8-week home- based exercise program and to maintain daily exercise and fatigue diaries. Functional ability (12-minute walk) was measured pretest and post-test. RESULTS: Several distinct patterns of fatigue emerged. The most common patt ern of fatigue after chemotherapy demonstrated a sharp rise in fatigue. How ever, several women demonstrated a chaotic pattern with erratic and wide sw ings in their fatigue throughout the entire study period. Women who adopted exercise experienced fewer days of high fatigue levels and more days of lo w levels of fatigue for both average and worst levels of fatigue. Women who did not exercise experienced more bad days (high fatigue) and fewer good d ays (low fatigue). CONCLUSIONS: Exercise appears to reduce the levels of average and worst fat igue and mal; help women recognize their pattern of fatigue. Exercise may r educe the intensity of fatigue by reorganizing women's interpretation of fa tigue. Routine clinical assessment and education about fatigue by health pr ofessionals can help patients to understand their pattern of fatigue and ma y help them to manage the symptom.