Effect of cancer-related fatigue caused by neoadjuvant chemotherapy on the quality of life of patients with tumor

Objective To describe the status of cancer-related fatigue and quality of life of breast cancer patients before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and provide the evidence for the clinical intervention.Methods The convenient sample was utilized.Totals of 115 breast cancer patients who received the neoadjuvant chemotherapy between November 2009 and May 2011 were investigated with the revised Piper fatigue scale Chinese version and Short Form 36 Health Survey Questionnaire.Results The total score of cancer-related fatigue,dimensions scores of total score of fatigue [2.4 (0,9.0)],behavior [1.7 (0,10.0)],emotion [1.8 (0,8.4)],perception [2.2 (0,10.0)],and cognitive emotion [1.8 (0,10.0)] of patients after neoadjuvant chemotherapy were significantly higher than that of before neoadjuvant chemotherapy [0 (0,8.9),0 (0,8.5),0 (0,10.0),0 (0,9.4),0 (0,9.3)] (Z=-5.874,-5.892,-5.668,-5.712,-5.363,respectively ;P＜0.01 ).Before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy,significant difference was detected in the quality of life (P＜0.01 ).Cancer-related fatigue was negatively correlated with the quality of life of patients and its aspects of mental health,physical functioning,role-function,general health,vitality,social functioning,role-emotional.Conclusions Neoadjuvant chemotherapy can result the cancer-related fatigue,and cancerrelated fatigue can influence the patients' life quality.Therefore,it is necessary to apply the effective intervention in order to alleviate cancer-related fatigue and improve their life quality. Key words: Breast cancer; Neoadjuvant chemotherapy; Cancer related fatigue; Quality of life