Exploring Relationship Between Health-Related Physical Fitness, Fatigue, and Quality of Life Among Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy: A Cross-Sectional Study
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Abstract
Background: Chemotherapy is associated with functional decline, cancer-related fatigue, and impaired quality of life, yet these interrelated outcomes are insufficiently characterized in local oncology rehabilitation settings. Objective: To examine the relationship between health-related physical fitness, cancer-related fatigue, and quality of life among adult patients receiving chemotherapy. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study included 194 adult chemotherapy patients at a tertiary care setting in Lahore, Pakistan. Health-related physical fitness was assessed using the 30-second Sit-to-Stand test, fatigue using the Brief Fatigue Inventory, and quality of life using the EORTC QLQ-C30. Descriptive statistics, Shapiro-Wilk testing, Spearman correlation, and regression analysis were performed using SPSS version 26.0. Results: Participants had a mean age of 45.26 ± 16.12 years and mean BMI of 26.50 ± 3.89 kg/m². Mean Sit-to-Stand score was 16.34 ± 4.00 repetitions, mean Brief Fatigue Inventory score was 4.88 ± 1.32, and mean global quality-of-life score was 52.66 ± 13.34. Sit-to-Stand score was strongly positively associated with global quality of life (r = 0.875, p < 0.001), while fatigue was strongly negatively associated with global quality of life (r = -0.832, p < 0.001). Sit-to-Stand score was inversely associated with fatigue (r = -0.772, p < 0.001). The regression model explained 85.1% of variance in global quality of life. Conclusion: Functional physical fitness and fatigue were strongly associated with quality of life among chemotherapy patients, supporting routine assessment of these modifiable clinical indicators during oncology care.
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