Cross-cultural adaptation, reliability, and validity of the Turkish version of the Cancer Fatigue Scale in patients with breast cancer

The Effect of Using Virtual Reality Glasses on Anxiety and Fatigue in Women with Breast Cancer Receiving Adjuvant Chemotherapy: A Pretest-Posttest Randomized Controlled Study

OBJECTIVE

To determine the effect of using virtual reality glasses on anxiety and fatigue in women with breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy.

DATA SOURCES

A total of 66 women with breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. The intervention group watched and listened to beach and nature content with virtual reality glasses for 30 minutes. The control group also received standard care. An Introductory Information Form, the State Anxiety Scale, and the Cancer Fatigue Scale were used for data collection. The scales were administered to the groups before the intervention, followed by practice or standard care, and then the scales were re-administered. All patients were evaluated for each cycle over four cycles.

CONCLUSION

In the intervention group, the mean post-application anxiety scores decreased compared with the mean pretest scores, and the mean posttest anxiety scores decreased from the first cycle to the last cycle. In addition, the mean post-test anxiety scores of the intervention group were found to be lower in all four cycles than the mean post-test anxiety scores of the control group. In the intervention group, the mean post-test fatigue and subscales scores decreased in all cycles compared with the mean pre-test scores.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

This research has shown that the use of virtual reality glasses is effective in reducing anxiety and fatigue scale scores and their subscales in patients with breast cancer. For this reason, it is recommended to introduce the use of virtual reality glasses to patients and to present their use according to patients' preferences.

Validation of the Korean Version of the Cancer Fatigue Scale in Patients with Cancer

Cancer-related fatigue is a highly prevalent and distressing symptom that negatively affects the quality of life of patients in all stages of cancer, including survivors. The Cancer Fatigue Scale (CFS) is a 15-item multidimensional instrument with the potential to enhance comprehension of fatigue. This study aimed to translate the original English version of the CFS into Korean and establish the validity and reliability of the translated version. A cross-sectional descriptive design was used to translate and validate the CFS in Korean. Factor analyses were performed to understand and establish construct and convergent validity with the Brief Fatigue Inventory (BFI), Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACT-F), and European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core-30 (EORTC QLQ-C30). The CFS demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient for all 15 items = 0.806); the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy was found to be 0.897, and Bartlett's test of sphericity was significant (p < 0.001). Moderate correlations were found between BFI, FACT-F, and EROTC QLQ-C30, indicating moderate validity. However, there were differences in factorial validity between the original scale and the Korean version, demonstrating a need for further testing in a homogenous population of cancer patients. The findings of this validation and reliability study showed that the Korean version of the CFS is a concise, reliable, feasible, and practical tool for evaluating the multidimensional aspects of cancer-related fatigue in patients with cancer.

The relationship between rumination, fatigue and psychological resilience among cancer survivors

AIM AND OBJECTIVES

The study's purpose was to examine the association between rumination, fatigue and psychological resilience among cancer survivors.

BACKGROUND

Cancer is a disease that causes difficult lives in individuals. Individuals can struggle with cancer-related fatigue (CRF) and ruminative thoughts during and after the disease process. However, it can also be seen that some individuals make sense out of their cancer experience and turn into stronger individuals.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional design.

METHODS

This study was conducted from February through November 2020. Data were collected from 159 cancer survivors using Event Related Rumination Inventory, Cancer Fatigue Scale and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale.

RESULTS

The findings showed that intrusive rumination significantly and negatively mediated psychological resilience but significantly and positively mediated with CRF. In contrast, deliberate rumination was significantly and positively mediated psychological resilience but significantly and negatively mediated with CRF. The effects of intrusive and deliberate rumination on fatigue were .431 (CI =0.042-0.635) and -.285 (CI = -0.163 to 0.491), respectively. In addition, the effects of intrusive and deliberate rumination on psychological resilience were -.253 (CI = -0.177 to 0.447) and .304 (CI = 0.045-0.124), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings underline the mediating role of rumination on CRF and psychological resilience among cancer survivors. The findings also delineate the associations between rumination, CRF and psychological resilience, which differ based on rumination type.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

The findings are particularly important to oncology nurses, who are the main sources of psychosocial care. To support cancer survivors and mobilise their resources, oncology nurses should be made aware of the different types and effects of rumination. With the help of this awareness, oncology nurses can enhance managing intrusive rumination, replacing intrusive ruminations with deliberate ones, mobilising resources and promoting psychological resilience.

Relationship Between Frailty and Fatigue in Older Cancer Patients

OBJECTIVES

Older patients with cancer present many symptoms during treatment. One of those symptoms is fatigue, which may be caused by factors unrelated to cancer. One of those factors is frailty increased with age. Frailty and fatigue affect older patients with cancer physically, psychosocially, emotionally, and spiritually. This study investigated the relationship between frailty and fatigue in older patients with cancer.

DATA SOURCES

This descriptive study was conducted between July 15, 2019, and February 15, 2020, in the medical oncology polyclinic and the medical oncology outpatient treatment unit of a university hospital. The sample consisted of voluntary 288 patients who met inclusion criteria. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and the Edmonton Frail Scale (EFS), and the Cancer Fatigue Scale (CFS).

CONCLUSION

The mean age of participants was 71.71 ± 5.29 years. Participants had a mean EFS score of 6 ± 3.21. Of participants, 36.1% were not frail, while 20.1% were vulnerable, 19.1% moderately frail, 17.7% mildly frail, and 6.9% severely frail. Participants had a mean CFS score of 21.41 ± 12.25. There was a positive correlation between EFS and CFS scores (P = .000, r = 0.734). Of participants, 63.8% were frail with physical and cognitive fatigue. The higher the frailty, the higher the fatigue.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

Elderly patients with cancer appear to be fragile, with frailty causing fatigue and many other conditions. It is important to determine the frailty and fatigue of elderly patients with cancer. It is essential understand the relationship between the frailty and fatigue for effective and correct management of nursing care.

Quality assessment criteria: psychometric properties of measurement tools for cancer related fatigue

Background: Fatigue is a common and distressing cancer symptom that negatively affects the quality of life. Many scales have been developed to assess cancer-related fatigue. The properties of the scales vary in terms of dimensionality, reliability, validity, length and method of administration. Insufficient of psychometric properties may affect the accuracy of scales findings, that may lead result obtained questionable. The main objective of this review was to conduct a quality assessment of the psychometric properties of cancer-related fatigue scales to identify appropriate scales that could be used in research and clinical practice. Method: A systematic search was carried out to identify validated scales that measure cancer-related fatigue. Five databases were searched: CINAHL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library. This review was conducted following the PRISMA and Terwee et al.'s quality assessment guidelines to evaluate the psychometric properties of the studies. Result: Seventy-one different studies published between 1970 and 2018 met the inclusion criteria. Twenty-five scales were identified. Of these, eighteen were multidimensional and seven were uni-dimensional, containing between 4 and 72 items. Reliability and/or validity information was missing for many scales. Four scales met the quality assessment criteria and were reported as the most appropriate for measuring fatigue in cancer patients. Conclusion: Further psychometric testing is required for other scales. Developing a universally-defined tool kit for the assessment of cancer-related fatigue may help clarify the concept of fatigue and promote a systematic approach to fatigue measurement.

The impact of occupation-based problem-solving strategies training in women with breast cancer

BACKGROUND

By identifying the occupations of women with breast cancer who have performance problems, to examine the impact of the application of occupation-based problem-solving strategies (OB-PSS) training on cancer-related fatigue, depression, and quality of life.

METHODS

The study comprises 22 women outpatients in the clinic. Socio- demographic and Clinical Features Information Collection Form, Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM), Cancer Fatigue Scale (CFS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire C-30 and BR23 (EORTC QOL-C30 - EORT QOL-BR23) tests have been applied to survivors. OB-PSS training was conducted on a face-to-face basis once a week for 6 weeks.

RESULTS

When activity distribution results in accordance with the performance areas are studied, women with breast cancer were seen to suffer problems mostly in their most productive areas (housework management). As a means of solving these performance problems, they developed adaptive strategies like including additional new steps to these activities. Statistically meaningful results have been obtained between measurements before and after the treatment process through all tests (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

OB-PSS provides positive gains in women with breast cancer in terms of a reduction in the degree of cancer-related fatigue and depression, and a progress in performance and satisfaction levels particularly in activities where performance problems are experienced and an improvement in quality of life. OB-PSS training could be used as an appropriate rehabilitation approach for coping with problems in women' life with breast cancer.

Brazilian Version of Cancer Fatigue Scale: Validation of the Brazilian Version of Cancer Fatigue Scale in Patients With Breast Cancer

CONTEXT

Scales to assess the fatigue in patients with cancer may help the clinical decision-making process.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study was to cross-culturally adapt and determine the validity of the Brazilian version of Cancer Fatigue Scale.

METHODS

Translation and cross-cultural adaptation followed the recommendations of international guidelines. One hundred fifty-one women with breast cancer participated in the validity phase and they filled out the Brazilian version of another instruments (Piper Fatigue Scale Revised, Beck Depression Inventory, Verbal Numerical Rating Scale, and Karnofsky Performance Scale). The measurement properties of reliability, internal consistency, and validity were measured.

RESULTS

The few discrepancies identified in the back-translation were solved by consensus, and the Cancer Fatigue Scale was successfully translated and cross-culturally adapted. The Brazilian version of Cancer Fatigue Scale showed good stability (test-retest reliability intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.95, 95% CI = 0.94-0.97 and interexaminer reliability intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.97-0.99) and good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha >0.70 for the three subscales/domains). The high correlation was found with Piper Fatigue Scale (r = 0.643) and Beck Depression Inventory (r = 0.509) in terms of validity. However, a reasonable correlation was found with Verbal Numerical Rating Scale (r = 0.302) and Karnofsky Performance Scale (r = -0.324).

CONCLUSION

Here, we validated the Cancer Fatigue Scale in breast cancer Brazilian women meaning its use for the identification and evaluation of cancer-related fatigue in patients with breast cancer.