Fatigue and health behaviors in cancer survivors: A cross-sectional population based study.

Abstract

10069 Background: A substantial proportion of breast, colo-rectal and prostate cancer patients (pts) can expect long term disease free survival after their primary treatment. Among those, fatigue commonly persists after diagnosis (dx) and can be debilitating. In this study, we evaluated the incidence of fatigue 2 years (y) after cancer dx and its association with health behaviors. Methods: We used a French population based cross-sectional study, which included a representative sample of pts from 12 cancer types (VICAN2). VICAN2 surveyed 4347 pts 2 y after dx. There is a 99% completion rate of fatigue related questions. For this study, we included 2017 pts with breast (1237), colo-rectal (348) and prostate (432) cancer without evidence of metastases at dx or relapse 2y after dx and with fatigue information. Severe fatigue was defined as average score of EORTC QLQC30 fatigue subscale ≥40 at 2y after dx. There were <1% of missing values in the evaluated covariates. Multivariate logistic regression models looked at associations of fatigue with heatlh behaviors (Δ in exercise since dx, exercise at diagnosis, body mass index (BMI), Δ since dx, smoking), age, gender, comorbidities, education, employment, cancer type, radiation, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy. Results: 52% of pts reported severe fatigue at 2 y after dx (median fatique score: 44, range: 0-100). 2 y after dx, 47% of pts either stopped or decrease exercise and 16% had a ≥ 10% change in BMI. Factors associated with fatigue included health behaviors (Table), but also age (adjusted odds ratio [ aOR] for severe fatigue, 95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 0.97, 0.96-0.98), gender ( aOR, 95 CI male vs. female: 0.5, 0.3-0.8), comorbidities ( aOR, 95 CI yes vs. no: 2.0, 1.6-2.4) and treatment type ( aOR, 95 CI radiation vs. no: 1.5, 1.1-2.0). Conclusions: Fatigue continues to be a substantial problem for cancer survivors 2 y after dx. Some factors that may contribute to persistent fatigue (health behaviors) may be amenable to interventions. [Table: see text]