Background: Self-regulatory fatigue may play an important role in a complex medical illness.
Purpose: Examine associations between self-regulatory fatigue, quality of life, and health behaviors in patients pre- (N = 213) and 1-year post-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT; N = 140). Associations between self-regulatory fatigue and coping strategies pre-HSCT were also examined.
Method: Pre- and 1-year post-HSCT data collection. Hierarchical linear regression modeling.
Results: Higher self-regulatory fatigue pre-HSCT associated with lower overall, physical, social, emotional, and functional quality of life pre- (p's < .001) and 1-year post-HSCT (p's < .01); lower physical activity pre-HSCT (p < .02) and post-HSCT (p < .03) and less healthy nutritional intake post-HSCT (p < .01); changes (i.e., decrease) in quality of life and healthy nutrition over the follow-up year; and use of avoidance coping strategies pre-HSCT (p's < .001).
Conclusion: This is the first study to show self-regulatory fatigue pre-HSCT relating to decreased quality of life and health behaviors, and predicting changes in these variables 1-year post-HSCT.