Study on the correlation between self-management efficacy, perceived stress and cancer-related fatigue in patients with colorectal cancer after surgery

Objective To investigate the status quo of cancer-related fatigue in patients with colorectal cancer after operation, analyze the relationship between self-management efficacy, stress perception and cancer-related fatigue, and explore the influencing factors of cancer-related fatigue level.

Methods A total of 63 patients with colorectal cancer after surgery were selected by convenience sampling method. The general data and disease-related data of patients were collected, and the patients were investigated using the visual analogue scale(VAS), anorexia/fluid quality list-12(A/CS-12), self-management efficacy scale(SUPPH), stress perception scale(PSS) and cancer related fatigue scale(CFS).

Results The score of cancer-related fatigue was (31.30±10.13) points, and the proportions of mild, moderate and severe fatigue patients were 26.98%, 44.44% and 28.57%, respectively. The differences of the score of cancer-related fatigue among patients with different ages, residential status, main caregivers, duration of disease, walking steps, sleep quality, whether neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, enterostomy or not, gastrointestinal symptoms, pain, and cancer anorexia were statistically significant(P < 0.05 to P < 0.01). The score of SUPPH was negatively correlated with the total score of CFS, while the score of each dimension of CPSS was positively correlated with the total score of CFS(r=0.295-0.574, P < 0.01). The age, sleep quality, previous neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, anorexia, SUPPH and CPSS were the main influencing factors of cancer-related fatigue level(P < 0.05 to P < 0.01), accounting for 78.20% of the total variation.

Conclusions The moderate cancer-related fatigue in patients with colorectal cancer after operation is major, and the self-management efficacy and stress perception are related to the cancer-related fatigue to some extent. Clinical nursing staff should implement scientific intervention measures to improve patients'self-management efficacy and reduce the perceived level of stress, so as to alleviate the degree of cancer-related fatigue.