Anaemia and other predictors of fatigue among patients on palliative therapy for advanced cancer.

The association of anaemia and other predictors of fatigue was studied in cancer patients on palliative treatment. A cohort of 128 consecutive patients (61 men and 67 women, mean age 63.6 years; range 36-85) was interviewed using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) questionnaire, with 11 items describing cancer-related symptoms in visual analogue scale (VAS). Routine haematological samples were analysed at the time of interview. Both univariate and multivariate analyses were used to assess the independent predictors of fatigue. Out of the 10 symptoms recorded, fatigue was the single most frequent, reported by 91.3% of the patients, followed by pain (74.8%), sleeplessness (78.0%) and depression (74.2%). Anaemia was a significant determinant of fatigue (p=0.040)(OR=5.09; 95% CI 1.013-25.647). Out of the symptoms recorded, fatigue was significantly associated with depression (p=0.035), loss of appetite (p=0.016), anxiety (p=0.050), and sleeplessness (p=0.016). Total wellbeing was negatively associated with fatigue (OR=0.48, 95% CI 0.011-0.020)(p=0.0001). In multivariate analysis, anaemia was the most powerful independent predictor of fatigue, with OR=38.27 (95% CI 2.62-559.19)(p=0.008), followed by sleeplessness (OR=14.06 95% CI 1.44-137.02 p=0.023) and loss of appetite (OR=10.30 95% CI 1.04-101.10, p=0.045). Fatigue was unrelated to sex or age, or to the type of cancer, or the treatment category. Fatigue was common among cancer patients on palliative care. The single most powerful independent explanatory factor of fatigue was anaemia, implicating a need for interventional studies.