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. 2010 Apr 30;19(5):657–666. doi: 10.1007/s00520-010-0878-x

Table 1.

Baseline characteristics of the validation study sample (N = 437)

Variables Data
Sex, N (%)
 Women 264 (60.5)
Age, mean years (SD) 59.1 (11.8)
Educational level, N (%)
 No formal education 92 (22)
 Primary education 181 (43.8)
 Secondary education 81 (19.4)
 University or similar 62 (14.8)
Carer status, N (%)
 Patient does not need care from other person 292 (68.5)
 Patient needs and receives care from the family, the caregiver, or both 134 (31.5)
Time from diagnosis, mean years (SD) 2.21 (3.9)
Karnofsky score on inclusion, mean (SD) [min, max] 81.3 (11.6) [50, 100]
Cancer location, N (%)
 Breast 147 (33.6)
 Lung 65 (14.9)
 Colon 50 (11.4)
 Rectum 34 (7.8)
 Ovary 27 (6.2)
 Prostate 22 (5)
 Othera 96 (22)
Cancer extension, N (%)
 Local 90 (20.8)
 Loco regional 106 (24.5)
 Metastasis 237 (54.7)
Hb <11 g/dL, N (%) 127 (29.1)
Hb (g/dL), mean (SD) [min, max] 12 (1.7) [6.9, 18]
Treatment status, N (%)
 Follow-up surveillance 43 (9.8)
 Active treatment 394 (90.2)
Type of cancer treatmentb, N (%)
 Chemotherapy 368 (84.2)
 Radiotherapy 60 (13.7)
 Hormone therapy 48 (11)
 Monoclonal antibodies 41 (9.4)
 Interferon 6 (1.4)
VAS fatigue score on inclusion, mm; mean (SD) [min, max]**, c 54.3 (15.1) [30, 95]
VAS fatigue level on inclusion, N (%)
Moderate (30–60 mm) 227 (65.6)
Severe (>60 mm) 119 (34.4)
Following a fatigue treatment, N (%) 152 (34.8)
FACT-Fd, mean (SD) 35.9 (10.5)
NHP-22e, mean (SD)
Physical summary score 33.4 (24.1)
Psychological summary score 34.2 (26.8)

SD standard deviation, min minimum, max maximum, Hb haemoglobin, VAS visual analogue scale, NHP Nottingham Health Profile, FACT-F Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy—Fatigue

aIncludes bladder (N = 18), pancreas (N = 16), lymphoma (N = 12), head and neck (N = 11), stomach (N = 10), and several other cancers with N < 5

bIncludes indiscriminately indications in single therapy and combined therapy

cFatigue was measured on a 100-mm, horizontal VAS

dGlobal score ranges from 13 (no impairment) to 65 (greatest impairment)

eDimension scores range from 0 (minimum impact in HRQOL) to 100 (maximum impact in HRQOL)