Fatigue of oncological patients – incompatible perspectives of patients and medical staff

Background Cancer-related fatigue is a complex syndrome and the most frequently reported complaint, especially during treatment. Sometimes a large discrepancy in patient fatigue estimations between the patients themselves and medical staff is observed. The main goal of this study was to compare fatigue from the patients’ and the medical staff’s perspectives. Participants and procedure The methods used included author-designed surveys for both the patient (questions about fatigue, intensity, causes and influence on life constructed mostly in the form of numerical rating scales) and the medical staff (the same questions on the perception of the patient’s fatigue), the Chalder Fatigue Questionnaire, and the EORTC QLQ-C30. The study involved 51 cancer patients during chemotherapy treatment. Results For 63% of the subjects, there was convergence of fatigue assessments made by patients and staff. Differences were visible in the staff’s and patients’ assessment of the intensity of fatigue experienced by the patients. The simple question “Are you fatigued (yes or no)?” corresponded to all questionnaires and scales in the case of patients. The equivalent question to the staff, “Is the patient fatigued (yes or no)?”, corresponded only to the patients’ current assessment of fatigue and with no other score on the questionnaire or scale that the patients filled out about their fatigue. Also, patients identified more causes of fatigue and staff overestimated the influence of chemotherapy on fatigue. Of the patient subjects, 51.4% did not know of any ways to cope with fatigue, and most of them talked about it only to family and friends. Conclusions Despite existing recommendations on the need to screen and educate patients in this matter, the issue of fatigue still re-quires attention.