Exhausting condition impacts up to 67% of cancer survivors
Horng-Shiuann Wu, PhD, assistant professor of nursing in the Wayne State College of Nursing, recently examined cancer-related fatigue (CRF), a condition that affects up to 90% of patients who receive major treatments and 30% to 67% of cancer survivors.
The study included 114 breast cancer chemotherapy patients between the ages of 31 and 67 years. Wu and colleagues screened the participants for sudden fatigue, and the patients completed a questionnaire on the day of their chemotherapy treatment.
According to study results, sudden fatigue was experienced by 46% of the women. Of those, 81% suffered more than 1 episode per day. A majority of the episodes (77%) occurred between 10 am and 5 pm. The intensity was described as severe for 90% of patients, and concurrent symptoms were reported including dizziness, nausea, pain, shortness of breath, sweating, and weakness.
Instead of the term CRF, Wu suggests “sudden exhaustion syndrome” as a better description for these episodes, due to the fact that they occur suddenly.
The study is published in the journal Support Care Cancer.
Source: Wayne State University.