Browsing by Subject "fatigue"

Objectives: Depression presents one of the biggest global health concerns today. According to the network theory, mental disorders, such as depression, reflect co-occurring intercorrelating symptom effects. Thus, studying the properties of depressive symptom networks could enhance knowledge about the etiology of depression. In this study, network structures of men and women of the general population are compared, to enhance understanding of higher prevalence rates of depression in women. Although gender differences of depression are widely studied, this is the first study comparing the depressive symptom network structures of adult men and women in the general population. Methods: The data (n = 567 men; n= 886 women) are from a national age cohort study (LASER). Partial correlation networks of BDI-II symptoms were compared in two time-points. Results: Estimated networks had distinct gender differences. Men had lower mean scores, but more changes in the network structure across time, more negative edges, and higher network density. “Agitation” was highly central only in the men’s networks. Women showed changes in mean sum scores, but network structures had few changes, and symptoms formed three distinct communities in both time-points. “Fatigue” was reported significantly more by women and was highly central only in the women’s networks. Implications: Differences in symptom networks between men and women may explain the gender-related differences in the prevalence of depression. Negative edges in the men’s networks and the symptom communities in the women’s networks are targets for more research. Fatigue could be a valuable target for preventing and treating women’s depression.

Background and objectives: Currently in Finland, there are over 66 000 women living with breast cancer. The five-year survival rate is 90.6 %. Breast cancer and its treatments are known to impair patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The current study is a part of an open prospective randomized Breast cancer and exercise (BREX) -study in Finland conducted to investigate whether supervised exercise training shortly after the adjuvant treatments of breast cancer patients could prevent osteoporosis and improve patient’s quality of life. This master thesis examines cross-sectional and prospective associations between the sense of coherence (SOC) and the HRQoL of breast cancer survivors. Methods: 537 long-term breast cancer survivors and controls who participated in a prospective randomized physical exercise intervention with twelve months of supervised exercise training were followed up five years. 406 participants who finished the 5-year follow-up and filled the SOC questionnaire were included in the final analyzes. The SOC was measured by 13-item Finnish and Swedish short forms of Orientation to life Questionnaire (SOC-13) at 3 years. Cancer-specific HRQoL was measured by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30) version 3 and general HRQoL by the 15D. Associations between the SOC and the HRQoL were studied by logistic regression analyze. Results and conclusion: The SOC was associated with the cancer-specific and the general HRQoL at the 3-year (p < .001) and at the 5-year follow-up (p < .001). The relationship was the most significant for the general HRQoL, global health / quality of life and emotional and cognitive functions. Weak SOC increases the risk of low cancer-specific and low general HRQoL after the adjuvant treatments of breast cancer. Strong SOC as an inner resource may serve as a protective psychological factor in the adaptation process of breast cancer survivors. The SOC-13 questionnaire might be useful in targeting patients vulnerable to decrease in the HRQoL and in planning psychosocial interventions.