MERLIN aims to answer the question, how a fatigue screening tool should be designed for use in clinical practice to reliably and efficiently detect fatigue in cancer patients.~Patients will be surveyed at short time intervals during their cancer therapy (every 1-2 weeks) and at longer intervals during the subsequent post-treatment phase (every 4-6 weeks).~In addition, important psychological factors, which may exacerbate fatigue or contribute to its maintenance will be assessed at baseline, after 3, 6, 12 and 18 months (e.g. depressive symptoms, anxiety, sleep disturbances, coping). These data will be collected by online questionnaires.~Additional data, e.g. medical history, cancer characteristics and treatment as well as concomitant medication and complementary therapies will be extracted from the clinical documentation systems.~In total, the study will provide important information for the establishment of a patient-oriented fatigue screening. Thus, MERLIN will contribute to the early detection and alleviation of this frequent and distressing side effect of cancer treatment.
MERLIN will include 300 cancer patients at the beginning of their systemic cancer therapy. Patients' fatigue-levels will be surveyed at short time intervals during their cancer therapy and at longer intervals during the subsequent post-treatment phase.