# CanRestoreFunction: Cancer-related fatigue management eHealth intervention- a pilot pragmatic randomized-control trial

## TL;DR

A new eHealth program helped reduce fatigue and improve quality of life in breast cancer patients.

## Contribution

A multi-modal eHealth intervention for breast cancer-related fatigue was tested in a pilot trial.

## Key findings

- eHealth group showed a clinically significant reduction in fatigue.
- Quality of life improved more in the eHealth group than the control.
- Social media was effective for recruitment but eHealth had higher dropout rates.

## Abstract

To investigate the effect of an 8-week multi-modal eHealth cancer-related fatigue intervention in women with breast cancer. eHealth included remote education, individualized exercise, and weekly problem-solving sessions. Primary outcomes were recruitment/retention and cancer-related fatigue level. Quality of life was a secondary aim.

Women with Stage 0–3 breast cancer between 18–70 years who scored ≥ 4/10 on the One-Item Fatigue Scale, completed chemotherapy and/or radiation within 5 years, and did not have chronic fatigue, were randomly assigned to eHealth intervention (eHealth) (n = 18) or control (n = 24). Cancer-related fatigue and quality of life were measured before and after intervention using the Brief Fatigue Inventory and the Functional Assessment Cancer Therapy-General.

Social media was an effective way to recruit participants into this study; however, more participants in the eHealth group dropped out than the control group. Both groups' fatigue scores significantly decreased over time (p = 0.001). eHealth decreases in fatigue reached a minimally clinically important difference (2.25), but control did not (1.3). Quality of life significantly improved in the eHealth group compared to the control (p = 0.03).

Multi-modal cancer-related fatigue eHealth intervention appears to clinically reduce fatigue and improve quality of life among women with breast cancer.

US Clinical Trial Register NCT05868187. Date registered: 2–7-2023. www.clinicalgrials.gov

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00520-026-10477-5.