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Determining the prevalence of fatigue among cancer patients is complicated by the high prevalence of fatigue symptoms in the general population. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, severity and correlates of fatigue among both cancer patients and control subjects without cancer.

A total of 227 cancer patients and 98 control subjects were recruited to the study. They completed a number of questionnaires about fatigue, quality of life and psychological symptoms. The majority of subjects also underwent assessment of voluntary muscle function and nutritional status. Severe fatigue in the patients was defined as a score on the Fatigue Severity Scale in excess of the 95th percentile of the control group.

The prevalence of severe fatigue was 15% among patients with recently diagnosed breast cancer, 16% among patients with recently diagnosed prostate …