Highlights
- •Some children described fatigue as physical, mental or a combination of both.
- •Fatigue impacted on many aspects of their lives such as daily activities, mood and social interaction.
- •Assessment of fatigue during radiotherapy treatment is key to improve well-being of children with cancer.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this research is to examine the experience and impact of radiotherapy related
fatigue in children diagnosed with solid tumours.
Design and methods
Children (n = 25) and parents (n = 19) participated in a semi-structured interview on the last week of radiotherapy
treatment. The study sample included children who were 6 to 14 years of age, diagnosed
with brain or solid tumour, and received radiotherapy as part of their treatment protocol
over the period of 6 weeks. Interpretation of data was undertaken through the adoption
of thematic analysis approach.
Results
Data revealed children's experience and response to fatigue while undergoing radiotherapy.
Several recurring themes arose about their experience of fatigue/tiredness while undergoing
radiotherapy. Two themes and eight sub themes, namely ‘Experience of Fatigue’ (“You
feel Different in your body”, Mood and Feeling, Activity and Occurrence) and ‘Response
to Fatigue’ (Rest and Sleep, Activity, Mood and Concentration and Eating Habit) were
identified.
Conclusions
The findings illustrated significant fatigue on activity sleep, rest and mood of children
undergoing radiotherapy.
Practice implications
Monitoring and addressing fatigue and its consequences during radiotherapy treatment
are essential to improve well-being of children with cancer.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of Pediatric Nursing: Nursing Care of Children and FamiliesAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Cancer-related fatigue: An overview.British Journal of Nursing. 2021; 30: S36-S43
- Childhood Cancer-related fatigue and day-to-day quality of life.Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing. 2019; 36: 74-85
- “Not just little adults”: Qualitative methods to support the development of pediatric patient-reported outcomes.Patient Education and Counseling. 2013; 6: 143-159
- Changes in children’s reports of symptom occurrence and severity during a course of myelosuppressive chemotherapy.Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing. 2010; 27: 307-315
- Recommendations for high-priority research on cancer-related fatigue in children and adults.J National Cancer Inst. 2013; 105: 1432-1440
- Cancer-related fatigue.Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. 2010; 8: 904-931
- Physical exercise training interventions for children and young adults during and after treatment for childhood cancer.Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2016; 3
- Longitudinal screening and management of fatigue, pain, and emotional distress associated with cancer therapy.Supportive Care in Cancer. 2008; 16: 151-159
- Anxiety in children with CFS/ME.European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 2009; 18: 683-689
- Trajectories of fatigue in patients with breast cancer before, during, and after radiation therapy.Cancer Nursing. 2010; 33: 201
- Childhood cancer: Survival, treatment modalities, late effects and improvements over time.Cancer Epidemiology. 2021; 71101733
- Sleep, fatigue, depression, and quality of life in survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.Pediatric Blood & Cancer. 2013; 60: 479-485
- Psychometric and clinical assessment of the 10-item reduced version of the fatigue scale — Child instrument.Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2010; 39: 572-578
- Three instruments to assess fatigue in children with cancer: The child, parent and staff perspectives.Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2003; 25: 319-328
- Fatigue in children and adolescents with cancer.Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing. 1998; 15: 172-182
- School functioning in adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome.Frontiers in Pediatrics. 2018; 302: 1-8
- Symptoms in children receiving treatment for cancer—Part II: Pain, sadness, and symptom clusters.Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing. 2019; 36: 262-279
- Nausea, pain, fatigue, and multiple symptoms in hospitalized children with cancer.Oncology Nursing Forum. 2011, September; 38
- Use of interviews in nursing research.Nursing Standard (2014+). 2015; 29: 44
- Comparison of child self-report and parent proxy-report of symptoms: Results from a longitudinal symptom assessment study of children with advanced cancer.Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing. 2021; 26e12316
- An examination of fatigue in advanced childhood cancer.Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing. 2006; 23: 305-310
- Series: Practical guidance to qualitative research. Part 3: Sampling, data collection and analysis.The European Journal of General Practice. 2018; 24: 9-18
- Fatigue in childhood chronic disease.Archives of Disease in Childhood. 2019; 104: 1090-1095
- Fatigue and health related quality of life in children and adolescents with cancer.European Journal of Oncology Nursing. 2017; 29: 39-46
- Considerations for conducting qualitative research with pediatric patients for the purpose of PRO development.Quality of Life Research. 2016; 25: 2193-2199
- Cancer-related fatigue: a critical appraisal.European Journal of Cancer. 2006; 42: 846-863
- A multidimensional examination of correlates of fatigue during radiotherapy.Cancer: Interdisciplinary International Journal of the American Cancer Society. 2010; 116: 529-537
- Experiences of low mood in young people with cancer: A qualitative study.Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing. 2019; 36: 424-435
- The association of fatigue and social participation in multiple sclerosis as assessed using two different instruments.Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders. 2019; 31: 165-172
- Global burden of childhood cancer: Growing, but controllable.The Lancet Oncology. 2019; 20: 1184-1185
- Effect of exercise on cancer-related fatigue: A meta-analysis.American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. 2014; 93: 675-686
- Longitudinal development of cancer-related fatigue and physical activity in childhood cancer patients.Pediatric Blood & Cancer. 2019; 66e27949
- Predicting the neurobehavioral side effects of dexamethasone in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia.Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2016; 72: 190-195
- Childhood cancer: Occurrence, treatment and risk of second primary malignancies.Cancers. 2021; 13: 2607
- Sleep habits and fatigue of children receiving maintenance chemotherapy for ALL and their parents.Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing. 2010; 27: 217-228
Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 22, 2022
Accepted:
July 9,
2022
Received in revised form:
June 27,
2022
Received:
December 21,
2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
