An examination of cancer-related fatigue through proposed diagnostic criteria in a sample of cancer patients in Taiwan

BMC Cancer

Yuen-Liang Lai⁵  Ying-Yueh Tu¹  Duu-Jian Tsai⁴  Wei-Ju Su⁶  Shu-Chuen Lau²  En-Tien Yeh³ 

[1]Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Medical University-Shuang Ho Hospital, 291 Jhongjheng Rd, Jhonghe District, New Taipei City, 235 Taiwan

[2]School of Medicine, Fu Jen Catholic University, 510 Zhongzheng Rd, Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City, 242 Taiwan

[3]Department of Hospice and Palliative Care, Cardinal Tien Hospital, 362 Zhongzheng Rd, Xindian District, New Taipei City, 231 Taiwan

[4]School of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei, 110 Taiwan

[5]Mackay Medical College, 46 Zhongzheng Rd, Sec 3, Sanzhi District, New Taipei City, 252 Taiwan

[6]Graduate Institute of Humanities in Medicine, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei, 110 Taiwan

关键词: cancer;    diagnosis;    prevalence;    fatigue;   

Others  :  1080748
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2407-11-387

 received in 2011-05-20, accepted in 2011-09-06,  发布年份 2011

【 摘 要 】

Background

Fatigue among cancer patients has often been reported in the literature; however, great variations have been documented, ranging from 15% to 90%, probably due to the lack of a widely accepted definition and established diagnostic criteria for cancer-related fatigue. The objective of this study was to evaluate the proposed International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (10^th revision) (ICD-10) criteria in a sample of cancer patients from a medical center and a regional teaching hospital in northern Taiwan. More accurate prevalence estimates of CRF may result in improved diagnoses and management of one of the most common symptoms associated with cancer and its treatment.

Methods

Since self-reporting from patients is the most effective and efficient method to measure fatigue, the ICD-10 criteria for fatigue were used. The ICD-10 criteria questionnaire was translated into Chinese and was approved by experts. Patients were recruited from outpatient palliative and oncology clinics and from palliative and oncology inpatient units.

Results

Of the 265 cancer patients that were interviewed between 21 October 2008 and 28 October 2009, 228 (86%) reported having at least 2 weeks of fatigue in the past month, and further evaluation with the ICD-10 criteria showed that 132 (49.8%) had cancer-related fatigue. Internal consistency was very good, which was indicated by a Cronbach alpha of 0.843.

Conclusion

The prevalence of diagnosable CRF in the patients in this sample, of whom most were under palliative treatment, was 49.8%, which was probably somewhat lower than in some of the previous reports that have used less-strict criteria. In addition, among the various criteria of the proposed diagnostic criteria, the most frequently reported symptoms in our sample populations were regarding sleep disturbance and physical factors. Although they will require further replication in other samples, these formal diagnostic criteria can serve as a step toward a common language and a better understanding of the severity range of CRF.

【 授权许可】

   
2011 Yeh et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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