Autonomic Function Measurements for Evaluating Fatigue and Quality of Life in Patients with Breast Cancer Undergoing Radiation Therapy: a Prospective Longitudinal Study

Overview

Journal Radiat Oncol

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialties Oncology
Radiology

Date 2023 Oct 20

PMID 37858146

Authors

Miwa Aoki

Hirohiko Kuratsune

Sena Yamamoto

Toshiko Hirano

Kumiko Hanaeda

Yasuka Nishi

Tamami Okada

Maki Nadamura

Chiho Kobayashi

Emiko Sumita

Junko Gotou

Masahiko Koizumi

Harue Arao

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Fatigue during radiation therapy in women with breast cancer can decrease quality of life (QOL), yet it is often underestimated and needs to be evaluated objectively. This longitudinal study aimed to evaluate fatigue and QOL of women with breast cancer undergoing radiotherapy with a simple autonomic function measurement.

Methods: Women with breast cancer who underwent postoperative radiotherapy in eight cancer care hospitals in Chubu and Kinki regions in Japan were recruited between October 2021 and June 2022. The women underwent a self-administered questionnaire that included the Cancer Fatigue Scale (CFS) and the Short Form-8 Health Survey (SF-8) and an autonomic nervous function measurement using a simple, non-invasive device before (T0, baseline), mid (T1), and at the end (T2) of treatment.

Results: The 57 women showed similar trends, with CFS scores and log LF/HF ratio being the highest at T0 and significantly decreasing at T1 (both p < 0.05). The log LF/HF trends differed between those with high and low baseline log LF/HF values. Women with mental component summary (MCS) score improvement (T0 to T2) had the highest log LF/HF ratio at T0 and had significantly lower log LF/HF values at T1 and T2 than at T0 (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively). The change of (⊿) MCS from T0 to T1 was negatively correlated with ⊿log LF/HF from T0 to T1 (r = - 0.36, p < 0.01).

Conclusions: Measurement of autonomic nerve function with a simple device is useful for objective fatigue assessment during radiotherapy. Psychological support is important as improvement in mental health helps improve autonomic nerve function and, in turn, fatigue.

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