To assess the Prevalence and Predictors of Fatigue and its Impact on Quality of Life in advanced cancer patients receiving palliative care in a tertiary care hospital: A cross-sectional Descriptive study

Cancer-relatedfatigue (CRF) is one of the adverse outcomes of cancer and its treatment.Despite its high prevalence; the data is scarce from Indian population onprevalence of CRF and its predictors in advanced cancer patients. So we aim tofind the prevalence of the fatigue, its impact of fatigue on quality of life (QOL)and possible predictors.

Methods: This study was conducted after approval of the ethicalcommittee in adult patients of advanced cancer receiving palliative care. Thedata collected included demographic details, nutritional status, anyco-morbidities involving cardio-respiratory, renal, pulmonary, neurologicalsystem, type and stage of cancer, site of metastasis, any previous or ongoingchemotherapy or radiotherapy, history of drug intake, hemoglobin (Hb) andalbumin. The study parameters included assessment of fatigue, QOL and symptomassessment as per validated tools. The primary objective of the study was tofind out the prevalence of fatigue in advanced cancer patients receivingpalliative care. The secondary objectives were to find out predictive factorsof fatigue, its impact on QOL of patients and relation between the fatigue andQOL receiving palliative care. Thecorrelation between fatigue score and QOL was analysed using Pearson’scorrelation coefficient. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed foridentifying the predictors of CRF.

Results: The prevalence of fatigue was 100 % of which severe fatiguewas seen in 97 patients (FACIT-F < 30). The median (IQR) FACIT-F score was14(8-23). The median (IQR) of overall QOL was 16.66 (16.6- 50).The correlationbetween Fatigue (FACIT-F) and QOL was +0.64 (p < 0.001). The predictors offatigue included pain, physical functioning, ECOG, tiredness and level ofalbumin.

Conclusion: We conclude, the prevalence of fatigue in Indian patients with advancedcancer receiving palliative care was high and it has a negative impact on QOL.Pain, physical functioning, performance status, and albumin were found to beindependent predictors of CRF.