• Palliative medicine · Sep 2023

    'Life became slow down': A descriptive qualitative study of the experiences of cancer-related fatigue amongst people with advanced lung cancer.

    • Huiyuan Li, NgMarques Shek NamMSNThe Nethersole School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China., Xiaohuan Jin, and Cho Lee Wong.
    • The Nethersole School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
    • Palliat Med. 2023 Sep 1; 37 (8): 116811821168-1182.

    BackgroundCancer-related fatigue is a complex multidimensional concept. However, little is known about the experience of cancer-related fatigue in people with advanced lung cancer. How they emotionally react to and cope with the experience of cancer-related fatigue according to cultural influences has not been extensively explored.AimTo explore the experience of cancer-related fatigue, its impacts and emotional reactions to and coping strategies for cancer-related fatigue amongst people with advanced lung cancer in China.DesignThis was a cross-sectional, descriptive qualitative study with face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Data were analysed using content analysis.Setting/ParticipantsTwenty-one people with advanced lung cancer who experienced cancer-related fatigue were recruited in a hospital setting.ResultsFour themes were identified: multifaceted experiences of cancer-related fatigue, impacts of cancer-related fatigue, negative perceptions of cancer-related fatigue and avoiding cancer-related fatigue. The multifaceted experience of cancer-related fatigue had physical, psychological and social impacts along the cancer trajectory. Informants regarded it as a sign of a 'bad ending', searched for root causes and had negative attitudes towards role changes. Avoiding coping strategies included not discussing cancer-related fatigue, refusing encouragement and support, hiding feelings, withdrawing from social life and attempting to control cancer-related fatigue.ConclusionThe findings provide insights into the lack of flexibility of people with advanced lung cancer to adapt to the multidimensional experience of cancer-related fatigue. The reactions and coping towards cancer-related fatigue are profoundly influenced by Chinese culture. Developing psychological interventions based on the cultural background are highly recommended to cultivate the ability to cope flexibly with stressful events and live a meaningful cancer life.

      Pubmed     Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…