Handgrip fatiguing exercise can provide objective assessment of cancer-related fatigue: a pilot study

T Veni (1) , S. Boyas (1) , Bruno Beaune (1) , H. Bourgeois (2) , Abderrahmane Rahmani (1) , S. Landry (2) , A. Bochereau (1) , Sylvain Durand (1) , Baptiste Morel (1)

1 MIP - Motricité, interactions, performance EA 4334 / Movement - Interactions - Performance
2 Centre Jean Bernard [Institut Inter-régional de Cancérologie - Le Mans]

Purpose: As a subjective symptom, cancer-related fatigue is assessed via patient-reported outcomes. Due to the inherent bias of such evaluation, screening and treatment for cancer-related fatigue remains suboptimal. The purpose is to evaluate whether objective cancer patients' hand muscle mechanical parameters (maximal force, critical force, force variability) extracted from a fatiguing handgrip exercise may be correlated to the different dimensions (physical, emotional, and cognitive) of cancer-related fatigue. Methods: Fourteen women with advanced breast cancer, still under or having previously received chemotherapy within the preceding 3 months, and 11 healthy women participated to the present study. Cancer-related fatigue was first assessed through the EORTC QLQ-30 and its fatigue module. Fatigability was then measured during 60 maximal repeated handgrip contractions. The maximum force, critical force (asymptote of the force-time evolution), and force variability (root mean square of the successive differences) were extracted. Multiple regression models were performed to investigate the influence of the force parameters on cancer-related fatigue's dimensions. Results: The multiple linear regression analysis evidenced that physical fatigue was best explained by maximum force and critical force (r = 0.81; p = 0.029). The emotional fatigue was best explained by maximum force, critical force, and force variability (r = 0.83; p = 0.008). The cognitive fatigue was best explained by critical force and force variability (r = 0.62; p = 0.035). Conclusion: The handgrip maximal force, critical force, and force variability may offer objective measures of the different dimensions of cancer-related fatigue and could provide a complementary approach to the patient reported outcomes.

Mots clés: Breast cancer; Neuromuscular fatigue; Force; Physical activity; Quality of life

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]; Cancer

T Veni, S. Boyas, Bruno Beaune, H. Bourgeois, Abderrahmane Rahmani, et al.. Handgrip fatiguing exercise can provide objective assessment of cancer-related fatigue: a pilot study. Supportive Care in Cancer, 2019, 27, pp.229-238. ⟨10.1007/s00520-018-4320-0⟩. ⟨hal-02357828⟩