The role of mental adjustment dimensions and disease stage in predicting cancer-related fatigue (CRF) in patients with cancer

Nowadays cancer is considered as a major public health problem, hence it always remain as a part of research priorities. Physical and psychological distress in cancer creates a lot of stress. Fatigue is one of the symptoms experienced by patients with cancer. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of mental adjustment dimensions and disease stage in predicting cancer related fatigue. The sample comprised of ۱۲۰ patients hospitalized in Tajrish Shohada Hospital in Tehran in ۲۰۱۴ that were selected purposively. For collecting data, the questionnaires of Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy- Fatigue (FACT-F), and the mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale (mini-MAC) were used. Multiple regression was also used to analyze data. The overall regression model showed the significant role of variables such as disease stage and dimensions of mental adjustment in cancer related fatigue in such patients (p <۰/۰۱). The R۲ value indicated that ۱۷% of fatigue changes can be explained by the predictor variables. So beside providing physical care and nursing interventions, considering the presence of psychologists to pay attention to the psychological components of cancer patient’s life for increasing patient’s mental adjustment and consequently reducing fatigue is important.

Keywords:

cancer , Fatigue , mental adjustment , disease stage