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Fatigue tied to low physical activity in survivors of thyroid cancer
Low physical activity level may increase fatigue in survivors of thyroid cancer, especially among those who are unemployed or disabled, according to findings published in Thyroid.
Anna M. Sawka, MD, PhD, FRCPC, an associate professor in the department of medicine, division of endocrinology at Toronto General Hospital and University Health Network, and colleagues evaluated 205 adult (mean age, 52.5 years; 152 women) thyroid cancer survivors who completed a survey to determine the severity and prevalence of moderate and severe fatigue as well as potential predictive factors, including physical activity. The Brief Fatigue Inventory was used to measure global fatigue score, and the 7-day International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to evaluate physical activity.
Feeling unusually fatigued was reported by 52.5% of participants, and the mean global fatigue score was 3.5. The prevalence of fatigue was 58.6% for mild, 30.9% for moderate and 10.3% for severe. Mean global fatigue score was 5.9 among the 84 participants with moderate or severe fatigue; only 7.4% of participants reported no fatigue.
The median number of minutes spent performing physical activity was 0 minutes for vigorous, 60 minutes for moderate and 210 minutes for walking, and mean total weekly metabolic equivalent minutes of moderate, vigorous and walking physical activity was 3,250 minutes.
Women reported worse fatigue than men (P = .003), and fatigue was worse in participants who were unemployed or unable to work compared with others (P < .001).
Increased physical activity was significantly independently associated with reduction of fatigue in an exploratory multivariable linear regression analysis. Participants who were unemployed or on disability had 1.81 points higher score for global fatigue compared with participants who were employed.
“Fatigue is a common complaint among [thyroid cancer] survivors and is associated with being unemployed or being unable to work due to disability,” the researchers wrote. “Fatigue severity in this population does not appear to be related to thyroid hormone biochemical indices, but appears to be associated with reduced physical activity. Management of fatigue should be an essential component of [thyroid cancer] survivorship care. More research is needed to better understand the possible causes of fatigue and its optimal management. The best available indirect and direct evidence from randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews suggests that physical activity may be beneficial in reducing fatigue in [thyroid cancer] survivors, so physical activity should be encouraged in this population.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure s : The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.