CONTEXT: Previous studies have revealed inconsistent findings about the longitudinal evolution of cancer-related symptoms. In addition, the contribution of medical factors (e.g., cancer site, and treatments) in explaining the changes in these symptoms is yet to be established. OBJECTIVES: This prospective study investigated longitudinal changes of five symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, and pain) in patients scheduled to undergo surgery for cancer (N=828). METHODS: The patients completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Insomnia Severity Index, the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory, and a pain questionnaire at baseline and after 2, 6, 10, 14 and 18 months. RESULTS: Several time changes were statistically significant but effect sizes only revealed one change of a medium magnitude, that is, a reduction of anxiety from T1 to T2 (d=-0.58). Women with breast or gynecological cancer were the only subgroups to exhibit significant changes (i.e., reduction of a small magnitude of anxiety symptoms from T1 to T2; ds=-0.27 and -0.30, respectively). However, numerous differences were found across adjuvant treatments, including greater variations in depression and insomnia scores in the chemotherapy group (ds=-0.71 to 0.20) and a transient increase in fatigue symptoms in patients receiving "all" adjuvant treatments (ds=-0.24 to 0.37). CONCLUSION: The severity of cancer-related symptoms varies during the cancer care trajectory, especially anxiety scores, which importantly decrease during the first few months after the surgery. This study also suggests that treatment regimens better account for individual differences than cancer site in the evolution of symptoms.
CONTEXT: Previous studies have revealed inconsistent findings about the longitudinal evolution of cancer-related symptoms. In addition, the contribution of medical factors (e.g., cancer site, and treatments) in explaining the changes in these symptoms is yet to be established. OBJECTIVES: This prospective study investigated longitudinal changes of five symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, and pain) in patients scheduled to undergo surgery for cancer (N=828). METHODS: The patients completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Insomnia Severity Index, the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory, and a pain questionnaire at baseline and after 2, 6, 10, 14 and 18 months. RESULTS: Several time changes were statistically significant but effect sizes only revealed one change of a medium magnitude, that is, a reduction of anxiety from T1 to T2 (d=-0.58). Women with breast or gynecological cancer were the only subgroups to exhibit significant changes (i.e., reduction of a small magnitude of anxiety symptoms from T1 to T2; ds=-0.27 and -0.30, respectively). However, numerous differences were found across adjuvant treatments, including greater variations in depression and insomnia scores in the chemotherapy group (ds=-0.71 to 0.20) and a transient increase in fatigue symptoms in patients receiving "all" adjuvant treatments (ds=-0.24 to 0.37). CONCLUSION: The severity of cancer-related symptoms varies during the cancer care trajectory, especially anxiety scores, which importantly decrease during the first few months after the surgery. This study also suggests that treatment regimens better account for individual differences than cancer site in the evolution of symptoms.
Authors: Barbara L Andersen; Neha Godiwala Goyal; Travis D Westbrook; Brenden Bishop; William E Carson Journal: Clin Cancer Res Date: 2016-07-12 Impact factor: 12.531
Authors: Fay Wright; Gail D'Eramo Melkus; Marilyn Hammer; Brian L Schmidt; M Tish Knobf; Steven M Paul; Frances Cartwright; Judy Mastick; Bruce A Cooper; Lee-May Chen; Michelle Melisko; Jon D Levine; Kord Kober; Bradley E Aouizerat; Christine Miaskowski Journal: J Pain Symptom Manage Date: 2015-03-28 Impact factor: 3.612
Authors: Claudia Trudel-Fitzgerald; Shelley S Tworoger; Elizabeth M Poole; Xuehong Zhang; Edward L Giovannucci; Jeffrey A Meyerhardt; Laura D Kubzansky Journal: Health Psychol Date: 2017-11-20 Impact factor: 4.267
Authors: Fay Wright; Marilyn Hammer; Steven M Paul; Bradley E Aouizerat; Kord M Kober; Yvette P Conley; Bruce A Cooper; Laura B Dunn; Jon D Levine; Gail DEramo Melkus; Christine Miaskowski Journal: Cytokine Date: 2017-01-19 Impact factor: 3.861
Authors: Charles Cleeland; Roger von Moos; Mark S Walker; Yuanyuan Wang; Jianqing Gao; Mariana Chavez-MacGregor; Alexander Liede; Jorge Arellano; Arun Balakumaran; Yi Qian Journal: Support Care Cancer Date: 2016-03-29 Impact factor: 3.603