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What are the best terms in Portuguese to explain the concepts of “fatigue” and “depression” in cancer patients?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2014

Carlos Eduardo Paiva ,
Luciana Lopes Manfredini ,
Bianca Sakamoto Ribeiro Paiva ,
Estela Cristina Carneseca ,
Sriram Yennurajalingam ,
Eduardo Bruera  and
David Hui
Carlos Eduardo Paiva*
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Oncology, Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, São Paulo, Brazil Palliative Care and Quality of Life Research Group, Post Graduation Program, Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, São Paulo, Brazil
Luciana Lopes Manfredini
Affiliation:
Cancer Hospital Children and Youth President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, São Paulo, Brazil
Bianca Sakamoto Ribeiro Paiva
Affiliation:
Palliative Care and Quality of Life Research Group, Post Graduation Program, Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, São Paulo, Brazil
Estela Cristina Carneseca
Affiliation:
Palliative Care and Quality of Life Research Group, Post Graduation Program, Barretos Cancer Hospital, Barretos, São Paulo, Brazil
Sriram Yennurajalingam
Affiliation:
Department of Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Eduardo Bruera
Affiliation:
Department of Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
David Hui
Affiliation:
Department of Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Carlos Eduardo Paiva, Departamento de Oncologia Clínica, Rua Antenor Duarte Villela, 1331 Barretos, São Paulo, Brazil, CEP 14784-400. E-mail: caredupai@gmail.com
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Abstract

Objective:

Although “fatigue” and “depression” are well-accepted clinical terms in the English language, they are ill defined in many other languages, including Portuguese. We aimed to investigate the most appropriate words to describe cancer-related fatigue (CRF) and depression in Brazilian cancer patients.

Method:

The interviewers read to patients two clinical vignettes describing fatigued patients and two others describing depressed patients. Participants were asked to choose from among “fatigue,” “tiredness,” “weakness,” “depression,” and “sadness” the best and worst terms to explain the vignettes. In addition, they were administered an instrument containing numeric rating scales (NRSs), addressing common symptoms, including the aforementioned terms. Pearson correlation analysis and accuracy diagnostic tests were conducted using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Treatment–Fatigue (FACIT–F) as references.

Results:

Among the 80 participants, 40% reported that the best term to explain the concept of CRF was “tiredness,” and 59% chose “sadness” as the best descriptor of depression. Regarding diagnostic accuracy, the areas under the curve (AUCs) for “fatigue,” “weakness,” and “tiredness” were 0.71, 0.81, and 0.76, respectively; the AUCs for “depression” and “sadness” ranged from 0.81 to 0.91 and 0.73 to 0.83, respectively. Negative correlations were found among FACIT–F fatigue subscale scores and NRS scores for “fatigue” (r = –0.58), “tiredness” (r = –0.67), and “weakness” (r = –0.62). Regarding depression, there were positive correlations between HADS–D scores and both NRS for “depression” (r = 0.61) and “sadness” (r = 0.54).

Significance of results:

“Tiredness” was considered the best descriptor of CRF. Taking into consideration the clinical correlation with depression scores, the term “depression” was accepted as the best term to explain the concept of depression.

Keywords

CancerFatigueDepressionDiagnostic accuracyMeaning
Type
Original Articles
Information
Palliative & Supportive Care , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , August 2015 , pp. 991 - 996
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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