Cancer-related fatigue: the role of demographic and medical factors, symptom severity, illness perceptions, and coping strategies in testing Leventhal’s Common Sense Model in ovarian cancer patients

Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is the most common symptom among cancer patients. Up to 58% of ovarian cancer (OC) patients report debilitating fatigue. Yet, the risks for developing CRF remain poorly understood. The way patients’ perceive and cope with their symptoms may help to understand CRF. Leventhal’s Common Sense Model of Illness Perceptions was used to evaluate the effects of patients’ cancer-related perceptions on fatigue, using positive and negative coping strategies as mediators. OC patients (N = 283) completed self-report questionnaires. Results revealed that younger age, being unemployed, and greater anxiety, pain, nausea, and sleep dissatisfaction were associated with worse fatigue. Additionally, two illness perceptions, greater illness identity and consequences, were associated with worse fatigue. Indirect effect analyses revealed personal and treatment control to have an indirect effect on fatigue through positive coping. Implications for the CRF literature and relevance to OC patients are discussed.