FATIGUE ASSESSMENT IN CANCER PATIENTS/PROCENA UMORA KOD ONKOLOSKIH PACIJENATA

• Published in: Medicinski pregled Vol. 71; no. S1; p. 25
• Main Authors: Tomic, Sanja, Nikin, Zoran, Tomic, Slobodan, Malenkovic, Goran
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Drustvo Lekara Vojvodine 15.08.2018
• Subjects: Fatigue; Health aspects; Radiotherapy; Tumors
• ISSN: 0025-8105
• DOI: 10.2298/MPNS18S1025T

Introduction. Fatigue in cancer patients is one of the most frequent symptoms present irrespectively of the kind of malignant tumor, its localization, stage and/or treatment modality. One of the most often used definition of fatigue emphasizes a disturbing, persistent, subjective feeling of physical, emotional and/or cognitive fatigue, or tiredness, connected with the carcinoma and/or its therapy, that is not proportional with the patients' activities and therefore impairs their daily functioning. The study has been undertaken with the aim of determining the levels of fatigue in cancer patients during radiotherapy. Material and Method. The study was conducted as a cross-sectional study, by interviewing 80 hospitalized patients at the Institute for Oncology of Vojvodina in Sremska Kamenica, Clinic for Radiotherapy. Perform Questionnaire with 12 item describing fatigue over the previous two weeks was used as a study instrument. For the statistical analysis of data we used method of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Statistical significance was determined at the level of p<0.05. Results. The highest average values of the general Perform questionnaire score were recorded in the patients diagnosed with the central nervous system carcinoma [38.9[+ or -] 14.6], while the lowest were recorded in the group of patients with prostate cancer [17.0[+ or -]4.6]. Simultaneous administration of radiotherapy and chemotherapy leads to major limitations of physical performances, daily life activities and patient attitudes. Conclusion. All participants included in this study experienced fatigue, although it differed in separate domains, as well as by the type of therapy, primary diagnosis and intensity over the previous two weeks; however, it was present at the moment of estimation.Key words: Self-Assessment; Fatigue; Neoplasms; Activities of Daily Living; Signs and Symptoms; Surveys and QuestionnairesUvod. Umor kod onkoloskih bolesnika jedan je od najcescih simptoma prisutan nezavisno od vrste malignog tumora, lokalizacije i stadijuma i/ili medicinskih modaliteta lecenja. Jedna od najcesce koriscenih definicija umora naglasava uznemirujuci, perzistentni, subjektivni osecaj fizickog, emocionalnog i /ili kognitivnog umora, odnosno iscrpljenosti, povezanog sa kancerom i/ili terapijom karcinoma, koji nije srazmeran s bolesnikovim aktivnostima te ometa svakodnevno funkcionisanje. Studija je sprovedena sa ciljem utvrdivanja nivoa umora kod onkoloskih pacijenata tokom radioterapije. Materijal i metode. Ispitivanje je sprovedeno kao studija preseka, anketiranjem 80 hospitalizovanih pacijenta na Klinici za radioterapiju Instituta za onkologiju Vojvodine u Sremskoj Kamenici. Za utvrdivanje umora koriscen je Perform Questionnaire --Perform upitnik koji se sastoji od 12 stavki na osnovu kojih se procenjuje umor u protekle dve nedelje. Za statisticku obradu podataka primenjene su metode deskriptivne i inferencijalne statistke, a statisticka znacajnost odredivana je na nivou p < 0,05. Rezultati. Najvece prosecne vrednosti ukupnog skora upitnika Perform imali su pacijenti sa dijagnozom tumora centralnog nervnog sistema (38,9 [+ or -] 14,6), dok su najnize vrednosti zabelezene u grupi pacijenata sa dijagnozom karcinoma prostate (17 [+ or -] 4,6). Istovremena primena radioterapije i hemioterapije dovodi do vecih ogranicenja u domenima fizickih performansi, aktivnostima dnevnog zivota i stavovima pacijenata. Zakljucak. Umor kod onoloskih pacijenata obuhvacenih ovim istrazivanjem razlikovao se u razlicitim domenima, prema vrsti terapije, primarnoj dijagnozi, intenzitetu i prisutnosti tokom poslednje dve nedelje ali u trenutku procene bio je prisutan kod svih ispitanika.Kljucne reci: samoprocena; umor; neoplazme; aktivnosti svakodnevnog zivota; znaci i simptomi; istrazivanja i upitnici