Introduction

Fatigue is a common and debilitating symptom during cancer-related radiotherapy. The purpose of this study was to investigate fatigue in patients undergoing radiotherapy for cancer and to investigate factors in relation to fatigue, for example physical activity and quality of life (QoL).

Methods

Of 507 available patients, 458 patients (52% women, mean age 65 years, breast (38%), prostate (32%), or other cancer types) answered a questionnaire once, after receiving mean 33 (+/-17) Gy fractioned radiotherapy.

Results

Of the patients, 321 (72%) reported presence of fatigue (median 4, interquartile range 4, rated 0; never to 10; all the time). Factors related to greater likelihood to experience fatigue were <45 years age (p<0.01), living alone (p<0.01), radiotherapy to thorax/mediastinum/lung (p=0.02), accumulated radiotherapy dose of >44 Gy (p<0.01), concomitant chemotherapy (p=0.04), any other disease beside cancer (p<0.01), and ≥ six symptoms, other than fatigue (Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale, p<0.01). Patients experiencing fatigue compared to non-fatigue patients experienced worse QoL (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General score, Support Care Cancer (2019) 27 (Suppl 1):S1– S302 S109 p<0.01), were less likely to adhere to physical activity recommendations (39% versus 67%, p<0.01), and more seldom perceived a healthy balance between rest and activity (33% versus 75%, p<0.01).

Conclusions

Three quarters of patients during radiotherapy experienced fatigue and subgroups of patients were more likely to experience fatigue. Patients experiencing fatigue practiced less physical activity and experienced worse QoL than other patients. Cancer care professionals may considering paying attention to the subgroups of patients presenting greater likelihood to experience fatigue, to reduce symptom distress, and improve physical activity level and QoL