Akciğer Kanserli Hastalar ile Sağlıklı Yaşıtlarının Fiziksel Aktivite Seviyeleri, Kognitif Fonksiyonları, Yorgunluk Düzeyleri ve Yaşam Kalitelerinin Karşılaştırılması

Abstract

Yumuk, E.O., Comparison of Physical Activity Levels, Cognitive Functions, Fatigue Levels and Quality of Life of Lung Cancer Patients and Their Healthy Peers, Hacettepe University, Health Sciences Institute, Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Program, Master's Thesis, Ankara, 2024. This study aims to compare the physical activity levels, cognitive functions, fatigue levels and quality of life of patients with lung cancer with healthy individuals of similar age. A total of 42 individuals, including 12 newly diagnosed, stage III and IV lung cancer patients aged between 44 and 72 years, and 30 healthy individuals aged between 46 and 75 years, were included in our study. Seventy-five percent of the individuals with lung cancer and 43.3% of the healthy individuals were male. Individuals' physical activity levels, Two Minute Walk Test (2MWT), cognitive functions, Montreal Cognitive Assessment Scale (MOCA), Functional Evaluation of Cancer Treatment-Cognitive Function (FACT-Cog) scale, Motor Free Visual Perception Test (MVPT-3), fatigue levels. Brief Fatigue Scale (BFI) and quality of life were evaluated with the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life C30 (EORT QLQ-c30) scale and Short Form-36 (SF-36) quality of life scale. The MOBID language scores of individuals with lung cancer were lower than those of their healthy peers (z=-2.446, p=0.017). Low results were found in visual memory (z=-2,732, p=0,05), visual proximity (z=-2,930, p=0,03), visual discrimination (z=-2,046, p=0,04), position in space (z=-2,055, p=0,04) and total visual perception score (z=-2,680, p=0,006) in individuals with lung cancer. In the quality of life assessment, social function score was higher in the lung cancer group (z=-2,866, p=0,004), while pain (z=-3,891, p<0,001) and fatigue (z=-3,612, p<0,001) scores were lower. In addition, a strong negative correlation was found between fatigue levels and quality of life of individuals with lung cancer (r=-0.886, p=<0.001). Considering the importance of visual-cognitive process and fatigue in individuals with lung cancer, increasing the number of physiotherapists who will work in the field of cancer is important for symptom management and survival.