Fatigue in Patients with Cancer

This book reviews the literature on fatigue in general and in cancer. A chapter is devoted to identifying the concept of fatigue in cancer patients in comparison to fatigue as experienced in healthy individuals. Descriptors derived from this conceptional analysis were compared to those known from existing measurement tools, as published in available literature. A new fatigue assessment questionnaire was then developed and tested. In another study, this instrument underwent further reliability and validity testing. At the same time, a theoretical framework of fatigue emerged. The last chapter synthesizes the findings of the consecutive studies, and the appendix contains the Fatigue Assessment Questionnaire. This book is a must for reseachers, oncology nurses, physicians and psychologists who deal with this relevant aspect of quality of life in cancer patients.

Klappentext

Current literature shows that there is a gap in our knowledge about how tired­ ness/fatigue in cancer patients should be defined and measured. Existing fa­ tigue-related research in cancer patients shows conceptual and measurement differences (Piper 1993). There is no continuum of tiredness/fatigue in univer­ sal use. What do patients mean if they fill in a visual analogue scale indicating that they feel "very tired"? Is it an indicator of general well-being, and thus an 1993)? Most articles estimate of general quality of life (Hiirny and Bernhard written by English authors use the word fatigue to identify extreme tired­ ness. It could be said that in the English language, tiredness that is perceived as unusual, continuing distress is fatigue rather than tiredness. In the German language, tiredness (Mudigkeit) is not primarily a term for distress attributed to disease or unusual effort. But tiredness becomes a distressing phenomenon when it no longer regulates a healthy balance between rest and activity but represents unusual, abnormal or excessive whole-body tiredness that is dis­ proportionate to or unrelated to activity or excessive exertion (Piper 1993). As there is no word for fatigue in the German language, the definition "extreme, unusual tiredness" (in German: extreme, unubliche Mudigkeit), is used to explain the term "fatigue:' This clarification is needed to ensure that future fatigue research conducted in German-speaking countries can be com­ pared with such research carried out elsewhere.

Inhalt

The Concept of Fatigue or Tiredness as Experienced in Health and Disease, and More Specifically in Cancer.- A Qualitative Study to Explore the Concept of Fatigue/Tiredness in Cancer Patients and in Healthy Individuals.- Construction of a New Fatigue Assessment Questionnaire.- Testing the Fatigue Assessment Questionnaire in Healthy Persons and in Cancer Patients.- The Relationship Between Fatigue and Type and Stage of Cancer.- Synthesis and General Discussion.- Appendix.-