Distinct Trajectories of Fatigue and Sleep Disturbance in Women Receiving Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To examine self-reported severity of fatigue and disturbed sleep experienced daily by women with breast cancer during multiple cycles of chemotherapy, exploring potential classes of women experiencing similar symptom trajectories.
. DESIGN: In a secondary analysis, classes of women experiencing similar patterns of fatigue and disturbed sleep were identified.
. SETTING: Oncology clinics in the United States.
. SAMPLE 166 women with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy. 
. METHODS: Severity scores were self-reported daily using an automated system. Classes of fatigue and disturbed sleep severity were identified using latent growth mixture modeling.
. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES Fatigue, disturbed sleep, age, stage of disease, education, employment, marital status, chemotherapy regimen, hours lying down, and missed work.
. FINDINGS: Three fatigue classes were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Patterns of symptom trajectories for fatigue and disturbed sleep were distinguished by baseline symptom severity.
. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING Identification of women at risk for fatigue and disturbed sleep may allow clinicians to intensify symptom management.