Zhang Q, et al. – The reason for this examination was to study the feasibility of a nurse–led home–based exercise and cognitive behavioral therapy (E&CBT) for ovarian cancer adults with cancer–related fatigue on outcomes of fatigue, plus other secondary outcomes (sleep disturbance and depression), either during or after completion of primary cancer treatment. The results seemed to suggest that nurse–delivered home–based E&CBT have measurable advantages in helping women with ovarian cancer to minimize cancer–related fatigue, depressive symptoms, and improving their quality of sleep.

Methods

• It was a randomized, single-blind control trial.
• This trial was conducted on seventy-two eligible women who recently had surgery and completed their first cycle of adjuvant chemotherapy were randomly assigned to 2 groups.
• The experimental group received exercise and cognitive behavioral therapy whereas comparison group participants received services as usual.
• The primary outcome was measured by the Chinese version of the Piper Fatigue Scale that has four subscales (Behavior, Affect, Sensory, and Cognition).  
• Secondary outcomes were measured utilizing the Self-Rating Depression Scale and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index questionnaire.
• Repeated-measure ANOVA was utilized to inspect the effectiveness of this intervention in lessening fatigue, depression, and improving sleep quality.

Results

• The results of this study showed that no significant differences were found between the two groups for baseline comparisons.
• Total fatigue scores were significantly diminished from T1 to T2, to T3 in the experimental group (4.37, 4.24, 3.90), respectively after the interventions.
• The comparison group demonstrated no change in total fatigue score over time.
• In the repeated measures ANOVA, the differences of behavioral fatigue score (F = 11.647, p = 0.001) and cognitive fatigue score (F = 5.741, p = 0.019) were statistically significant for the group by time interaction.
• After the interventions, the experimental group members exhibited significantly lower symptoms of depression compared with the comparison group (T2: p = 0.001 and T3: p < 0.001).
• The findings demonstrated that sleep duration, sleep dysfunction, daytime dysfunction and in addition total sleep quality significantly improved.