Predictors of pain and fatigue in the year following diagnosis among elderly cancer patients

Using data obtained from an inception cohort of 841 patients aged 65 or old er newly diagnosed with breast, colon, lung; or prostate cancer, and observ ed at 6-8, 12-16, 24-30, and 52 weeks, three questions related to patients' experiences with pain and fatigue were posed. First, how do numbers of pat ients reporting neither pain nor fatigue, either symptom, or both change du ring the observation year? Second, did number of comorbid conditions, site and stage of cancer treatment modalities, symptom management medication, an d time affect the presence of these two symptoms? Third, do pain and fatigu e predict the numbers of cooccurring other symptoms? Findings indicate that during the year patients improved with respect to their reports of pain an d/or fatigue. Stage, more comorbidity and lung cancer were related to both pain and fatigue. Chemotherapy was related to reports of fatigue, but did n ot have an extended effect on fatigue. J Pain Symptom Manage 2001: 21:456-4 66 (C) U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Committee, 2001.