ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Anxiety and Stress Disorders
Cancer-Related Fatigue in Patients Undergoing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant: A Cross-Sectional Study on Prevalence and Influencing Factors
Provisionally accepted
Xia Wu1
Qiufang Xu2*- 1First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China
- 2Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China
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Background: Fatigue constitutes a highly prevalent symptom within the cancer patient population, exerting a profound and multifaceted impact on their quality of life. Within the specific context of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), a therapeutic modality associated with significant physiological and psychological stressors, the manifestation and determinants of fatigue remain inadequately characterized. The present study was therefore designed to systematically assess the prevalence of fatigue among HSCT recipients and identify key factors influencing its occurrence Methods: This cross-sectional study encompassed HSCT recipients treated at our hospital from November 2023 to November 2024. Fatigue levels were assessed using the Revised Piper Fatigue Scale. Data were collected during outpatient follow-up visits, which occurred at least 1 month after HSCT to ensure stabilization of physical and psychological status. Results: A total of 214 HSCT recipients were enrolled in the analysis. Among them, 88 patients reported fatigue, yielding a prevalence rate of 41.12%. Bivariate correlation analysis revealed statistically significant associations between fatigue and four variables: age (r = 0.530), gender (r = 0.509), per capita monthly household income (r = 0.552), and number of transplantation attempts (r = 0.602), with all correlation coefficients reaching significance at p < 0.05. Further logistic regression analysis confirmed these variables as independent associated factors of fatigue in HSCT recipients: age (OR = 2.410, 95% CI: 2.015–3.104), gender (OR = 2.504, 95% CI: 2.113–2.866), per capita monthly household income (OR = 3.218, 95% CI: 2.830–3.885), and number of transplantation attempts (OR = 3.652, 95% CI: 2.965–4.124), with all predictors demonstrating statistical significance at p < 0.05. Conclusion: HSCT recipients exhibit a high prevalence of fatigue, with emotional and sensory dimensions emerging as its primary characteristics. These findings underscore the imperative for healthcare practitioners to design and execute targeted interventions grounded in the identified risk factors, thereby effectively alleviating fatigue in this patient population.
Keywords: Fatigue, Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, assessment, Nursing, care
Received: 07 Aug 2025; Accepted: 07 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wu and Xu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Qiufang Xu, e7r5t5@sina.com
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