Impact of early integrated rehabilitation on fatigue in 600 patients with breast cancer – a prospective study

Abstract

Fatigue after breast cancer treatment is a common burden that is challenging to treat. The aim of this study was to explore if such integrated rehabilitation program reduces the prevalence of chronic fatigue compared to simple, non-integrated rehabilitation.

The subjects of our prospective study were 600 female breast cancer patients (29–65 [mean 52 years] of age), who participated in the pilot study on the individualized integrated rehabilitation of breast cancer patients in 2019–2021 and were monitored for one year. The control group included 301 patients and the intervention group numbered 299 patients. The patients completed three questionnaires (EORTC QLQ-C30, -BR23 and NCCN): before cancer treatment, and then six and twelve months after the beginning of cancer treatment. The control group obtained the standard rehabilitation program, while the intervention group was part of the early, individualized multidisciplinary and integrated approach of rehabilitation. The rehabilitation coordinator referred patients for additional interventions (e.g., psychologist, gynecologist, pain management team, physiotherapy, clinical nutrition team, kinesiologist-guided online training, vocational rehabilitation, general practitioner). Data on the patients’ demographics, disease extent, cancer treatment and complaints reported in questionnaires were collected and analyzed.

There were no differences between the control and the intervention group of patients in terms of age, education, disease extent, surgical procedures, systemic cancer treatment, or radiotherapy, and also no differences in the fatigue before the beginning of treatment. However, patients from the control group had a greater level of constant fatigue than patients from the intervention group half a year (p = 0.018) and a year (p = 0.001) after the beginning of treatment. Furthermore, a greater proportion of patients from the control group experienced significant interference with their usual activities from fatigue than from the intervention group, half a year (p = 0.042) and a year (p = 0.001) after the beginning of treatment. A multivariate logistic regression showed that one year after the beginning of treatment, the only independent factor correlated to fatigue was inclusion into the intervention group (p = 0.044). Inclusion in the intervention group was beneficial—patients from the control group were 1.5 times more likely to be fatigued.

Early individualized integrated rehabilitation is associated with a lower prevalence of chronic fatigue or fatigue interfering with usual activities in breast cancer patients in comparison to the control group of patients.