Relationship of fatigue with depressive symptoms and level of physical activity in women with breast cancer diagnosis

Luciana Beatriz Bosi Mendonça De Moura Matoso Matoso,Danielly Yani Fausto,Jéssica Moratelli,Thainá Korpalski,Mirella Dias,Leonessa Boing,Adriana Coutinho De Azevedo Guimarães

doi:10.1590/1980-0037.2020v22e59189

Luciana Beatriz Bosi Mendonça De Moura Matoso Matoso, Danielly Yani Fausto + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/1980-0037.2020v22e59189

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Abstract

Abstract Breast cancer is the most frequent in women, resulting in fatigue and depressive symptoms as consequence of treatment, but physical activity can help in this process. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between fatigue, depressive symptoms and practice of physical activity of women with breast cancer during treatment or after cancer treatment. This is a cross-sectional study with 179 women (56.89 ± 9.4 years) from the Oncology Research Center - CEPON, using questionnaire on general and clinical information, fatigue (Piper Fatigue Scale) depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory) and physical activity (IPAQ - short version). Women with moderate to severe fatigue underwent physiotherapy (p = 0.001) and women with no fatigue had minimum depressive symptoms (p ?0.001). Level of physical activity was not associated with fatigue, with most women being insufficiently active and women with mild fatigue had longer walking time than those without fatigue (p = 0.049). Women with depressive symptoms were almost three times more likely of having mild to severe fatigue and those who underwent physiotherapy were twice as likely of having mild to severe fatigue. Women with fatigue had greater presence of depressive symptoms. Professionals working in the field of oncology should recommend the practice of physical activity in order to minimize the side effects of treatment and observe depressive symptoms and fatigue in these women.

Highlights

Cancer is a worldwide public health problem; in 20 years, it is estimated that the number of new cancer cases is expected to increase by 57%1
Most had no other diseases in addition to cancer and underwent mastectomy without breast reconstruction, were under treatment with chemotherapy, at menopause, without self-report of lymphedema and not undergoing physiotherapy
The results indicated significant association between depressive symptoms and fatigue, but there was no relationship between level of physical activity and fatigue; the majority of women was insufficiently active (69.6%), and when the practice intensity was compared, women with mild fatigue showed longer walking time

Summary

Introduction

Cancer is a worldwide public health problem; in 20 years, it is estimated that the number of new cancer cases is expected to increase by 57%1. On a worldwide scale, is in second place among the most common types of cancer, and in women, it is the most frequent, reaching 25% of all cancers[1]. In Brazil, for the 2018-2019 years, approximately 600 thousand new cases of cancer are expected to occur; in women, breast cancer is the most frequent (60 thousand), which corresponds to 29.5% with estimated risk of 56.33 cases per 100 thousand women[2]. In the state of Santa Catarina, for the 2018/2019 years, 2190 new cases of breast cancer are estimated and, in the capital, (Florianopolis), 200 new cases[2]. For this specific type of cancer, surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and hormone therapy are mainly indicated[4]

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