Longitudinal Investigation of Cancer-related Fatigue and its Treatment: Knowledge, attitudes, needs, and current status of fatigue management in Germany (LIFT project)

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Imad Maatouk; Dr. Martina Schmidt; Professorin Dr. Karen Steindorf
• Subject Area: Public Health, Healthcare Research, Social and Occupational Medicine
• Term: from 2020 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 438839893

Cancer-related fatigue is one of the most frequent symptoms during and after cancer therapy and can considerably impair quality of life, therapy adherence, and return to work. About one third of all patients still suffer from fatigue several months and sometimes even years after completion of the cancer therapy. Although some therapeutic approaches have shown significant effects, fatigue is often insufficiently treated and sometimes inadequately diagnosed or even disregarded. Recommendations for care of fatigue including information/education, structured screening, evaluation, counseling, and interventions appear insufficiently established in cancer centers and clinical practice in Germany. Moreover, it has been noted that cancer patients often have a lack of knowledge or false beliefs regarding fatigue. This unawareness may hinder requesting for help, and thus, can lead to inadequate support and treatment. Likewise, among healthcare professionals, there seems to be large heterogeneity in the level of knowledge, attitudes, and support provided regarding cancer-related fatigue. However, profound data on these issues are still lacking, yet, would provide valuable insights on target groups for future actions and level of education/information needed.Therefore, our proposed LIFT project aims to thoroughly investigate the current status of health care in Germany regarding fatigue from (1) the institutional, (2) the healthcare professionals’, and (3) the patients’ perspective. With a multimodal approach including a comprehensive assessment of support offered by cancer centers, hospitals and oncological practices, a survey and qualitative interviews among physicians, nurses, and psycho-oncologists, and a longitudinal survey and qualitative research among cancer patients, the characteristics, patterns, and potential shortcomings of the current fatigue management will be explored. The project benefits from the multi-disciplinarity of our team which encompasses the scientific expertise on fatigue and associated physical and psychosocial factors, profound practical experience in conducting large-scale surveys, as well as the clinically relevant insights arising from the daily contact with affected patients.Overall, the LIFT project will enlarge the evidence base for improving the management of fatigue in Germany.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants