Measuring sickness behavior in the context of pancreatic cancer Journal Article
| Authors: | Tobias, K.; Rosenfeld, B.; Pessin, H.; Breitbart, W. |
| Article Title: | Measuring sickness behavior in the context of pancreatic cancer |
| Abstract: | Sickness behavior has been widely recognized as a symptom cluster that is associated with pro-inflammatory cytokine activation resulting from diverse conditions. The symptoms that comprise sickness behavior overlap substantially with major depressive disorder (MDD), which raises questions about the relationship between these two constructs, both of which occur frequently in patients with cancer. The construct of sickness behavior, while well-established in animal research, has rarely been applied to studies examining cytokines and depression in humans, perhaps because no reliable or validated measure of sickness behavior has been developed. We developed a version of a sickness behavior measure (the Sickness Behavior Inventory or SBI) and conducted a preliminary examination of its scale properties. Specifically, we hypothesized that a measure of sickness behavior would be significantly associated with five biomarkers of immune functioning (serum IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1b, IL-4, IL-10) in a human sample. The sample was comprised of four groups: individuals with pancreatic cancer and MDD (. n=. 16), individuals with pancreatic cancer and who did not have a diagnosis of MDD (. n=. 26), individuals without cancer who had MDD (. n=. 7), and individuals who did not have cancer or MDD (. n=. 25). The SBI demonstrated moderate reliability (Cronbach's alpha. =. .66), and total scores were significantly correlated with IL-6 (. rs=. .26, p=. .03), but not with other markers of immune functioning. Factor analysis supported a 3-factor model of sickness behavior with different associations between the three SBI factors and cytokines. These results highlight the need to further refine symptom measurement to better understand the relationships among immune functioning, cancer, depression, and sickness behavior. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. |
| Keywords: | adult; middle aged; fatigue; cancer patient; pancreas cancer; interleukin 10; interleukin 1beta; interleukin 4; weight reduction; animalia; tumor necrosis factor alpha; interleukin 6; cronbach alpha coefficient; libido; appetite disorder; illness behavior; sleep quality; human; male; female; article; psychomotor retardation; assessment of humans; anhedonia; sickness behavior inventory |
| Journal Title: | Medical Hypotheses |
| Volume: | 84 |
| Issue: | 3 |
| ISSN: | 0306-9877 |
| Publisher: | Elsevier Inc. |
| Date Published: | 2015-03-01 |
| Start Page: | 231 |
| End Page: | 237 |
| Language: | English |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.mehy.2015.01.002 |
| PROVIDER: | scopus |
| PMCID: | PMC4372250 |
| PUBMED: | 25659492 |
| DOI/URL: | |
| Notes: | Export Date: 4 May 2015 -- Source: Scopus |
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