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Cancer-related fatigue and its determinants in a cohort of women with breast cancer: the DAMA Cohort

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Abstract

Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is one of the most prolonged discomforts suffered by people who have had cancer. Seventy-eight to ninety-six percent of cancer patients experience fatigue, especially while undergoing treatment. CRF is related to insomnia, anxiety, depression, and also varies depending on age. However, little is known about the factors contributing to CRF and better understanding of determinants of CRF makes it easier to identify early patients at risk and in designing intervention planning. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of precipitating factors (diagnosis of breast cancer and other clinical aspects) and perpetuating factors (social network, quality of life, mental disorders) on the presence of chronic fatigue in women from our cultural context, by social class each other determinants.

Methods

It was carried out a mixed cohort study (prospective and retrospective) using a convenience sample of women diagnosed with breast cancer. The information sources were data from the Brief Fatigue Inventory questionnaire and hospital medical records. The dependent variable was fatigue and the independent variables were age, social class, time since diagnoses, cohabitation, comorbidity, relapse, body mass index, mental health (anxiety and depression), social network, social support, and quality of life.

Results

Seventy-two percent of the women in the DAMA cohort reported moderate to severe fatigue. Risk of suffering from severe fatigue was greatest among individuals with low social class, those aged under 50 years, those with chronic disorders who had relapsed, and those with symptoms of anxiety and depression. In our study, CRF did not appear to be related to the stage of the cancer at diagnosis, or to the time since diagnosis.

Conclusions

CRF is an element that the professionals responsible for the control and monitoring of women should take into account as another element to be taken into consideration.

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Funding

This project was funded by the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, with register number PI13/01977.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Servei d’Avaluació i Mètodes d’Intervenció (SAMI), Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona (ASPB), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    R. Puigpinós-Riera & G. Serral

  2. CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain

    R. Puigpinós-Riera, G. Serral & M. J. Quintana

  3. Institut de Recerca Biomèdica Sant Pau (IIB St.Pau), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    R. Puigpinós-Riera, G. Serral & M. J. Quintana

  4. Parc de Salut Mar de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    M. Sala & F. Macià

  5. Institut Hospital del Mar d’Investigació Mèdica (IMIM), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    M. Sala & F. Macià

  6. Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    X. Bargalló & J. Grau

  7. Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    M. J. Quintana

  8. Hospital Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    M. Espinosa

  9. MC Mutual, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    R. Manzanera

  10. Associació Catalana de Dones Afectades de Càncer de Mama (Grup Agata), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    M. Doménech

  11. Facultat de ciències de la Salut Blanquerna, Universitat Ramón Llull, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain

    E. Vidal

Authors
  1. R. Puigpinós-Riera
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  2. G. Serral
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  3. M. Sala
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Puigpinós-Riera.

Ethics declarations

Confidentiality and anonymity of the data was ensured, in compliance with Spanish Law 15/1999 on data confidentiality.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The study was approved by the Parc de Salut MAR Clinical Research Ethics Committee. register number 2015/6499/I.

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.

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Puigpinós-Riera, R., Serral, G., Sala, M. et al. Cancer-related fatigue and its determinants in a cohort of women with breast cancer: the DAMA Cohort. Support Care Cancer 28, 5213–5221 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-020-05337-9

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