A Self-Management Energy Conservation Program for Cancer-Related Fatigue

May 19, 2018 updated by: Wipasiri Naraphong, University of Michigan

A Self-Management Energy Conservation Program for Cancer-Related Fatigue in Thai Women With Breast Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy: A Pilot Study

The purpose of this pilot study is to examine a 12-week self-management energy conservation program (ECAM)'s effects on fatigue, and secondarily on sleep, physical activity, anxiety and depression, self-efficacy, and beliefs about fatigue in a group of Thai women with breast cancer who are undergoing chemotherapy. We will also evaluate how well women like the intervention, how easy it is to use and whether women will do the activities.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Cancer-related fatigue is a distressing and multidimensional symptom. Research in the US has explored the efficacy of energy conservation interventions for fatigue and related symptoms but no previous ECAM programs have been tested in Thailand.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

18

Phase

  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

      • Lopburi, Thailand, 15000
        • Lopburi Cancer Hospital
      • Saraburi, Thailand, 18000
        • Saraburi Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Thai women are age 18 or older; are diagnosed with stage I-III breast cancer; are scheduled to receive at least four cycles of chemotherapy given in 21-day-intervals; report at least 4 out of 10 or higher on a fatigue scale in the past month; are able to read and write in Thai and can be contacted by telephone.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Thai women have a history of severe psychiatric illness, or have other illnesses that could be responsible for the fatigue other than cancer such as iron deficiency anemia, multiple sclerosis, congestive heart failure, chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia. With regard to anemia, women must have a certain hemoglobin in the normal range at baseline. They also cannot have acute or chronic bone, joint, or muscular abnormalities that would increase the risk of falls and injury. Women scheduled to receive concurrent radiation therapy are not eligible.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Self-management energy conservation
Thai women with breast cancer randomized to the group will receive four sessions approximately every three weeks with the PI. The women will be instructed on how to do a self-management energy conservation program.
The experimental group will receive four sessions approximately every three weeks with the PI. These sessions will correspond to the cycles of chemotherapy they will receive, with the first two sessions being during cycle 1, and sessions 3 and 4 being during cycles 2 and 3 of chemotherapy, respectively. The women will be instructed on how to assess their activity patterns by making a list prioritizing their usual activities. The journal and priority list (a "to do" list) provide the basis for the second session. In this session, the participant will learn to create a plan for managing valued activities to minimize the amount of energy used, to report the fatigue experienced during and after an activity done in the journal and will learn strategies to manage fatigue and optimize activity. In the third session, the participant will evaluate and revise their individualized plan. In addition, the participant will be instructed to wear a pedometer to record objective physical activity.
No Intervention: Control
The participants will be given two pamphlets (general issues about breast cancer and self-care activities for patients receiving chemotherapy) provided by the health care team at the study sites. The participants in the control group will be encouraged to maintain their current daily activities during the 12-week period The participants will wear a pedometer to record the number of steps which is one of the activity outcomes.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Cancer-related fatigue (CRF)
Time Frame: Change from baseline CRF scores at 12 weeks
A 22-item scale, 0 to 10 numerical scaling, with four dimensions of fatigue will be used to measure CRF severity.
Change from baseline CRF scores at 12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Acceptability
Time Frame: at 12 weeks
Open-ended questions will be used to ask about the most positive and negative aspects of the intervention, what modules did they use the most, what were barriers to using the intervention, what would they like to see added or deleted in future modules, and any suggestions on how the program could be improved.
at 12 weeks
Satisfaction
Time Frame: at 12 weeks
Scaling questions about satisfaction with the intervention will be responded on a 5-point scale (1 = dissatisfied to 5 = completely satisfied).
at 12 weeks
The General Sleep Disturbance (GSD)
Time Frame: Change from baseline GSD scores at 12 weeks
A 21-item, eight-point Likert scale from 0 (never) to 7 (every day) will be used to measure subjective sleep disturbance.
Change from baseline GSD scores at 12 weeks
Physical Activity (subjective measure)
Time Frame: Change from baseline GSLTPAG scores at 12 weeks
Godin Leisure-Time Physical Activity Questionnaire (GSLTPAQ): A 4-item self-administered questionnaire asking information about the number of times one engages in mild, moderate, and strenuous leisure-time physical activity bouts of at least 15 minutes duration in a week, and also asking how often participants typically engage in any regular activity until sweating or a racing heart on a scale of often, sometimes, never or rarely.
Change from baseline GSLTPAG scores at 12 weeks
Physical Activity (objective measure)
Time Frame: Changes from baseline steps per day at 12 weeks
A pedometer will be used to assess how many steps are taken each day.
Changes from baseline steps per day at 12 weeks
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)
Time Frame: Change from baseline HADS scores at 12 weeks
The HADS is a 14-item questionnaire
Change from baseline HADS scores at 12 weeks
Self-Efficacy for Managing Chronic Disease Scale (SEMCDS)
Time Frame: Change from baseline SEMCDS scores at 12 weeks
This 6-item scale contain items will be used to measures self-reported current level of confidence to manage control the patient's symptoms, role function, emotional functioning, and communicating with physicians.
Change from baseline SEMCDS scores at 12 weeks
Fatigue Belief Questions (FBQ)
Time Frame: Change from baseline FBQ scores at 12 weeks
A 20-item, six-point Likert scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree) will be used to measure the fatigue beliefs.
Change from baseline FBQ scores at 12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Collaborators

Investigators

  • Study Chair: School of Nursing, University of Michigan

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

October 1, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 14, 2018

Study Completion (Actual)

May 9, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 6, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 11, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

September 13, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 22, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 19, 2018

Last Verified

May 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • D43TW009883 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

De-identified individual participant data for all primary and secondary outcome measures will be available

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Data will be available within 6 months of study completion.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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