Distinct Trajectories of Fatigue and Sleep Disturbance in Women Receiving Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer.

Purpose/objectives: To examine self-reported severity of fatigue and disturbed sleep experienced daily by women with breast cancer during multiple cycles of chemotherapy, exploring potential classes of women experiencing similar symptom trajectories.
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Design: In a secondary analysis, classes of women experiencing similar patterns of fatigue and disturbed sleep were identified.
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Setting: Oncology clinics in the United States.
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Sample: 166 women with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy. 
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Methods: Severity scores were self-reported daily using an automated system. Classes of fatigue and disturbed sleep severity were identified using latent growth mixture modeling.
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Main Research Variables: Fatigue, disturbed sleep, age, stage of disease, education, employment, marital status, chemotherapy regimen, hours lying down, and missed work.
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Findings: Three fatigue classes were identified.

Conclusions: Patterns of symptom trajectories for fatigue and disturbed sleep were distinguished by baseline symptom severity.
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Implications For Nursing: Identification of women at risk for fatigue and disturbed sleep may allow clinicians to intensify symptom management.