Effects of an educational intervention for managing fatigue in women with early stage breast cancer

Abstract

Purpose: This randomized controlled trial of outpatients with breast cancer (stage I or II) evaluated the effects of a 3-week educational intervention on patient levels of fatigue.

Methods: Norwegian outpatients were randomized into an intervention group (n = 79) and a control group (n = 81). Women with fatigue (>2.5 on a 0-10 numeric rating scale, NRS) completed the Fatigue Questionnaire (FQ) and the Lee Fatigue Scale (LFS) at baseline (after treatment) (T1), immediately after intervention (T2) and 3 months after intervention (T3).

Results: The mean fatigue score (NRS) at study entry was 6.1 (SD 1.7) and 36% (n = 57) had a score ≥7. There were no statistically significant differences between the fatigue measures of women in the intervention and control group at T2 or T3 in the overall sample after the intervention. Using an NRS cut-off of 5, there was a borderline difference for women who scored <5 for chronic fatigue on FQ (p = 0.062) and a significant difference for energy on LFS (p = 0.042) where the women in the intervention group had less fatigue. Using an NRS cut-off score of 6, there was a borderline difference for women who scored <6 for fatigue on FQ (p = 0.062) and a significant difference for energy on LFS (p = 0.021) where women in the intervention group had more energy than those in the control group.

Conclusions: Further research is needed to identify psycho-educational interventions to reduce levels of fatigue and to tailor an intervention based on the level of fatigue. Fatigue measurements should be chosen more carefully.

Keywords: Breast cancer; Fatigue; Fatigue Questionnaire; Lee Fatigue Scale; Self-administered comorbidity questionnaire.