The Relationship Between Learned Resourcefulness and Cancer-Related Fatigue in Patients With Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Purpose/Objectives: To investigate the effect of learned resourcefulness on fatigue symptoms in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) receiving chemotherapy.

Design: Quasi-experimental with repeated measures.

Setting: Two large hospitals in Israel.

Sample: 46 patients with NHL.

Methods: On the first day of a cycle of chemotherapy treatment, participants completed questionnaires assessing fatigue and learned resourcefulness. Fatigue was assessed again after 10 and 21 days.

Main Research Variables: Cancer-related fatigue, learned resourcefulness.

Findings: Fatigue increased 10 days following chemotherapy treatment and returned to pretreatment levels at day 21. Learned resourcefulness correlated negatively with each of the three measurements of fatigue. In addition, a calculated partial correlation showed the specific effect of learned resourcefulness on chemotherapy-related fatigue.

Conclusions: The findings showed a negative correlation between a physiologic variable (fatigue) and a psychological variable (learned resourcefulness), which is related to individual coping ability.

Implications for Nursing: Nurses should receive education about learned resourcefulness to potentially help patients with cancer cope with chemotherapy-related fatigue.

Knowledge Translation: As learned resourcefulness was negatively correlated with chemotherapy-related fatigue in patients with NHL, having this personality trait may help those patients manage fatigue.