Home Coping Strategies for Fatigue Used by Patients With Lung Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy in Rural China: A Qualitative Study.

Background: Cancer-related fatigue, a distressing symptom, is frequently reported by patients with lung cancer as increasing in severity with the number of rounds of chemotherapy. Yet, patients and healthcare providers are challenged to control this fatigue. Thus, healthcare providers must have interventions to effectively enhance coping engagement in patients with lung cancer.

Purpose: The aims of this study were to explore how patients with lung cancer in a rural area of China undergoing chemotherapy cope with the fatigue at home and to summarize their strategies.

Methods: A descriptive qualitative research approach was used, and data were collected using semistructured interviews. Sixteen patients with lung cancer with chemotherapy-related fatigue living in rural communities were recruited from a large, tertiary teaching hospital in Huzhou in eastern China. The transcripts of the interviews were analyzed using content analysis.

Results: Coping strategies for cancer-related fatigue were delineated into the three themes of (a) psychological adjustment, (b) efforts to change lifestyles and act as a Chinese health practitioner, and (c) relying on social support.

Conclusions/implications For Practice: The participants in this study provided information on a variety of approaches to reducing/alleviating cancer-related fatigue that were influenced by Chinese culture. Healthcare providers and patients may work together in clinical settings to identify appropriate, effective coping solutions and then to incorporate these into the regular care regimen to help patients transition between hospital and home.