Abstract
Recently, a few studies reported that fatigue was a predominant contributor to patientβperceived overall QoL in patients with different types of cancer in a relatively early stage of disease. In the present study, we aimed to investigate whether fatigue is also a major contributor to overall QoL in preterminal cancer patients. Ninetyβeight preterminal cancer patients, mainly lung (44%) and gastrointestinal cancer (25%), with an estimated life expectancy of 1β6 months were included. QoL domains as well as overall QoL were measured using the EORTC QLQβC30 questionnaire. Data were analysed by Pearson's correlations and multivariate modelling. Fatigue showed the strongest correlation with overall QoL (r = β0.63, p < 0.001), followed in decreasing order by role functioning (r = 0.53), physical functioning (r = 0.47), social functioning (r = 0.44), nausea (r = β0.37), cognitive functioning (r = 0.33), appetite loss (r = β0.31), dyspnea (r = β0.26) and emotional functioning (r = 0.24). Multivariate analysis confirmed that the fatigue scale paid by far the highest individual contribution to overall QoL (standardized regression coefficient (SRC): β0.41, p = 0.002), followed by social functioning (SRC: 0.18, p = 0.05). None of the other domains or symptom scales contributed independently to overall QoL. Our results clearly demonstrate that, in preterminal cancer patients, fatigue is a major contributor of overall QoL, corroborating reports in cancer patients in earlier disease stages. Β© 2008 WileyβLiss, Inc.