The Relationship between Depression and Fatigue in Children with Cancer Undergoing Chemotherapy

Abstract Introduction: Chemotherapy treatment often causes side effects in patients with cancer, which is fatigue. Treatment and diagnosis of cancer can cause psychological problems such as depression. Depression can cause inflammatory changes in the body, and there is evidence that inflammation is involved in fatigue pathophysiology. The purpose of this study was to find out the relationship between depression and fatigue. Method: This study used a cross-sectional design, and it also used consecutive sampling method with a sample of 30 children with cancer aged 8-12 years. This study used two instruments, in which those are the Fatigue Onkologi Anak-Allen (FOA-A) questionnaire to identify fatigue scores in children with cancer and Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC) to identify depression symptoms in children. Results: The results showed that more than half of the children with cancer were depressed. The average score of fatigue in children with cancer (with symptoms of depression were 11.82, and children with cancer who have no signs of depression were 6.23) showed mild fatigue. The results of statistical tests found a significant relationship between depression and fatigue (p = 0.003) and between types of cancer and fatigue (p = 0.018). These results indicated that cancer children with depressive symptoms felt higher fatigue. Conclusion: Nurses need to conduct an assessment on fatigue and depression felt by children so that they can carry out appropriate nursing interventions to reduce fatigue in children. Keywords : Cancer; Children; Chemotherapy; Depression; Fatigue