Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T22:57:58.531Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Factors affecting hope in a sample of fatigued breast cancer outpatients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2011

Tore Kr. Schjolberg ,
Marylin Dodd ,
Nils Henriksen  and
Tone Rustoen
Tore Kr. Schjolberg*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Nursing, Oslo University College, Oslo, Norway
Marylin Dodd
Affiliation:
Department of Physiological Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, California
Nils Henriksen
Affiliation:
Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Health Care Sciences, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway
Tone Rustoen
Affiliation:
Faculty of Nursing, Oslo University College, Oslo, Norway Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Tore Kr. Schjolberg, Faculty of Nursing, Oslo University College, PO Box 4, St. Olavs Plass, 0130 Oslo, Norway. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective:

The aims of this study of women with breast cancer were: to describe the levels of hope and compare hope scores for these patients with a sample from the general Norwegian population; to describe the relationship between hope and fatigue; and finally to evaluate the effect of demographic and clinical characteristics and fatigue on hope.

Method:

A total of 160 Norwegian outpatients with cancer and fatigue (>2.5 on a 0–10 scale) completed the Herth Hope Index (HHI), Fatigue Questionnaire (FQ), and Self-administered Comorbidity Questionnaire (SCQ).

Results:

The mean age of the women was 55.3 years (SD = 9.4), 81% lived with someone, and 67% were employed. The most common comorbidities were back pain (42%), osteoarthritis (26%), and headache (19%). The fatigued breast cancer patients reported significantly higher total hope scores than the general Norwegian population (p < .0001). The difference was largest in the individual item “I can see a light in the tunnel,” to which the cancer sample reported the highest scores, but they also felt more “scared about the future.” Total hope score was negatively correlated with total fatigue (TF), mental fatigue (MF), and chronic fatigue (CF), but not with physical fatigue (PF). Demographic and clinical characteristics were not significantly related to hope, except that patients who were married or living with someone showed significantly higher total hope scores.

Significance of results:

The higher levels of hope in breast cancer patients compared with the general Norwegian population may reflect a response shift in patients after getting a cancer diagnosis. The fact that a significant relationship was found between total hope scores and living arrangements may indicate that hope is easier to establish when patients have someone to relate to or receive support from. Hope and total fatigue were significantly, but weakly correlated.

Keywords

HopeHHIFatigued breast cancer patients
Type
Original Articles
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 9 , Issue 1 , March 2011 , pp. 63 - 72
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Andrykowski, M.A., Curran, S.L. & Lightner, R. (1998). Off treatment fatigue in breast cancer survivors: A controlled comparison. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 21, 1–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beckie, T.M., Beckstead, J.W. & Webb, M.S. (2001). Modeling women's quality of life after cardiac events. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 23, 179–194.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Benzein, E., Norberg, A. & Saveman, B.I. (2001). The meaning of the lived experience of hope in patients with cancer in palliative home care. Palliative Medicine, 15, 117–126.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Benzein, E.G. & Berg, A.C. (2005). The level of and relation between hope, hopelessness and fatigue in patients and family members in palliative care. Palliative Medicine, 19, 234–240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Breitbart, W., Rosenfeld, B., Pessin, H., et al. (2000). Depression, hopelessness, and desire for hastened death in terminally ill patients with cancer. Journal of the American Medical Association, 284, 2907–2911.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Broeckel, J.A., Jacobsen, P.B., Horton, J., et al. (1998). Characteristics and correlates of fatigue after adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 16, 1689–1696.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brooks, S.E., Gordon, N.J., Keller, S.J., et al. (2002). Association of knowledge, anxiety, and fear with adherence to follow up for colposcopy. Journal of Lower Genital Tract Dieases, 6, 17–22.Google ScholarPubMed
Butler, S., Chalder, T., Ron, M., et al. (1991). Cognitive behaviour therapy in chronic fatigue syndrome. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 54, 153–158.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chalder, T., Berelowitz, G., Pawlikowska, T., et al. (1993). Development of a fatigue scale. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 37, 147–153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, M.L. (2003). Pain and hope in patients with cancer: A role for cognition. Cancer Nursing, 26, 61–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chi, G.C. (2007). The role of hope in patients with cancer. Oncology Nursing Forum, 34, 415–424.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Donnelly, S., Walsh, D. & Rybicki, L. (1995). The symptoms of advanced cancer: Identification of clinical and research priorities by assessment of prevalence and severity. Journal of Palliative Care, 11, 27–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dufault, K. & Martocchio, B.C. (1985). Symposium on compassionate care and the dying experience. Hope: Its spheres and dimensions. Nursing Clinics of North America, 20, 379–391.Google Scholar
Ebright, P.R. & Lyon, B. (2002). Understanding hope and factors that enhance hope in women with breast cancer. Oncology Nursing Forum, 29, 561–568.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ersek, M. (1992). The process of maintaining hope in adults undergoing bone marrow transplantation for leukemia. Oncology Nursing Forum, 19, 883–889.Google ScholarPubMed
Felder, B.E. (2004). Hope and coping in patients with cancer diagnoses. Cancer Nursing, 27, 320–324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Field, A. (2005). Discovering Statistics Using SPSS: (and Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n ‘Roll). London: Sage.Google Scholar
Fryback, P.B. (1993). Health for people with a terminal diagnosis. Nursing Science Quarterly, 6, 147–149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gibson, P.R. (1999). Hope in multiple chemical sensitivity: Social support and attitude towards healthcare delivery as predictors of hope. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 8, 275–283.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Herth, K. (1992). Abbreviated instrument to measure hope: Development and psychometric evaluation. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 17, 1251–1259.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Herth, K. (2000). Enhancing hope in people with a first recurrence of cancer. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 32, 1431–1441.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hickok, J.T., Roscoe, J.A., Morrow, G.R., et al. (2005). Frequency, severity, clinical course, and correlates of fatigue in 372 patients during 5 weeks of radiotherapy for cancer. Cancer, 104, 1772–1778.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoskins, C.N., Baker, S., Sherman, D., et al. (1996). Social support and patterns of adjustment to breast cancer. Scholarly Inquiry for Nursing Practtice, 10, 99–123.Google ScholarPubMed
Hsu, T.H., Lu, M.S., Tsou, T.S., et al. (2003). The relationship of pain, uncertainty, and hope among Taiwanese lung cancer patients. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 26, 835–842.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Irvine, D., Vincent, L., Graydon, J.E., et al. (1994). The prevalence and correlates of fatigue in patients receiving treatment with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. A comparison with the fatigue experienced by healthy individuals. Cancer Nursing, 17, 367–378.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jacobsen, P.B., Hann, D.M., Azzarello, L.M., et al. (1999). Fatigue in women receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer: characteristics, course, and correlates. Journal of Pain & Symptom Management, 18, 233–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jemal, A., Siegel, R., Ward, E., et al. (2008). Cancer statistics, 2008. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinitians, 58, 71–96.Google Scholar
Koopmeiners, L., Post-White, J., Gutknecht, S., et al. (1997). How healthcare professionals contribute to hope in patients with cancer. Oncology Nursing Forum, 24, 1507–1513.Google ScholarPubMed
Lai, Y.H., Chang, J.T., Keefe, F.J., et al. (2003). Symptom distress, catastrophic thinking, and hope in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients. Cancer Nursing, 26, 485–493.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, E.H. (2001). Fatigue and hope: relationships to psychosocial adjustment in Korean women with breast cancer. Applied Nursing Research, 14, 87–93.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lin, C.C., Lai, Y.L. & Ward, S.E. (2003a). Effect of cancer pain on performance status, mood states, and level of hope among Taiwanese cancer patients. Journal of Pain & Symptom Management, 25, 29–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lin, C.C., Tsai, H.F., Chiou, J.F., et al. (2003b). Changes in levels of hope after diagnostic disclosure among Taiwanese patients with cancer. Cancer Nursing, 26, 155–160.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Loge, J.H., Ekeberg, O. & Kaasa, S. (1998). Fatigue in the general Norwegian population: Normative data and associations. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 45, 53–65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Longman, A.J., Braden, C.J. & Mishel, M.H. (1999). Side effects burden, psychological adjustment, and life quality in women with breast cancer: Pattern of association over time. Oncology Nursing Forum, 26, 909–915.Google ScholarPubMed
Miaskowski, C. & Lee, K.A. (1999). Pain, fatigue, and sleep disturbances in oncology outpatients receiving radiation therapy for bone metastasis: A pilot study. Journal of Pain & Symptom Management, 17, 320–332.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mock, V., Dow, K.H., Meares, C.J., et al. (1997). Effects of exercise on fatigue, physical functioning, and emotional distress during radiation therapy for breast cancer. Oncology Nursing Forum, 24, 991–1000.Google ScholarPubMed
Morriss, R.K., Wearden, A.J. & Mullis, R. (1998). Exploring the validity of the Chalder Fatigue scale in chronic fatigue syndrome. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 45, 411–417.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nowotny, M.L. (1989). Assessment of hope in patients with cancer: Development of an instrument. Oncology Nursing Forum, 16, 57–61.Google ScholarPubMed
Osse, B.H., Vernooij Dassen, M.J., Schade, E., et al. (2005). The problems experienced by patients with cancer and their needs for palliative care. Supportive Care in Cancer, 13, 722–732.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Potter, J. (2004). Fatigue experience in advanced cancer: A phenomenological approach. International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 10, 15–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raleigh, E.D. (1992). Sources of hope in chronic illness. Oncology Nursing Forum, 19, 443–448.Google ScholarPubMed
Reb, A.M. (2007). Transforming the death sentence: Elements of hope in women with advanced ovarian cancer. Oncology Nursing Forum, 34, E70–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rustoen, T. & Hanestad, B.R. (1998). Nursing intervention to increase hope in cancer patients. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 7, 19–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rustoen, T., Howie, J., Eidsmo, I., et al. (2005). Hope in patients hospitalized with heart failure. American Journal of Critical Care, 14, 417–425.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rustoen, T., Wahl, A.K., Hanestad, B.R., et al. (2003). Hope in the general Norwegian population, measured using the Herth Hope Index. Palliative & Supportive Care, 1, 309–318.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rustoen, T., Wiklund, I., Hanestad, B.R., et al. (1998). Nursing intervention to increase hope and quality of life in newly diagnosed cancer patients. Cancer Nursing, 21, 235–245.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sanatani, M., Schreier, G. & Stitt, L. (2008). Level and direction of hope in cancer patients: An exploratory longitudinal study. Supportive Care in Cancer, 16, 493–499.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sangha, O., Stucki, G., Liang, M.H., et al. (2003). The Self Administered Comorbidity Questionnaire: A new method to assess comorbidity for clinical and health services research. Arthritis & Rheumatism, 49, 156–163.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schwartz, C.E. & Sprangers, M.A. (1999). Methodological approaches for assessing response shift in longitudinal health related quality of life research. Social Science & Medicine, 48, 1531–1548.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Servaes, P., Verhagen, C. & Bleijenberg, G. (2002). Fatigue in cancer patients during and after treatment: Prevalence, correlates and interventions. European Journal of Cancer, 38, 27–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smets, E.M., Visser, M.R., Willems Groot, A.F., et al. (1998). Fatigue and radiotherapy: (A) experience in patients undergoing treatment. British Journal of Cancer, 78, 899–906.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stone, P., Hardy, J., Broadley, K., et al. (1999). Fatigue in advanced cancer: A prospective controlled cross sectional study. British Journal of Cancer, 79, 1479–1486.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stone, P., Richards, M., A'Hern, R., et al. (2000). A study to investigate the prevalence, severity and correlates of fatigue among patients with cancer in comparison with a control group of volunteers without cancer. Annals of Oncology, 11, 561–567.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Utne, I., Miaskowski, C., Bjordal, K., et al. (2008). The relationship between hope and pain in a sample of hospitalized oncology patients. Palliative & Supportive Care, 6, 327–334.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Von Ah, D.M., Kang, D.H. & Carpenter, J.S. (2008). Predictors of cancer related fatigue in women with breast cancer before, during, and after adjuvant therapy. Cancer Nursing, 31, 134–144.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wahl, A.K., Rustoen, T., Lerdal, A., et al. (2004). The Norwegian version of the Herth Hope Index (HHI N): A psychometric study. Palliative & Supportive Care, 2, 255–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, K., McGown, A., Jantos, M., et al. (1997). Fatigue, depression, and quality of life in HIV positive men. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing & Mental Health Services, 35, 32–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wessely, S. (1995). The epidemiology of chronic fatigue syndrome. Epidemiological Reviews, 17, 139–151.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wessely, S. & Powell, R. (1989). Fatigue syndromes: A comparison of chronic “postviral” fatigue with neuromuscular and affective disorders. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 52, 940–948.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wratten, C., Kilmurray, J., Nash, S., et al. (2004). Fatigue during breast radiotherapy and its relationship to biological factors. International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, 59, 160–167.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed