Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Therapeutic Massage for Psychological Well-being in Geriatric Oncology
Published on: May 22, 2026
Symptom clusters in advanced illness
1University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, USA. pesper@umich.edu
Objectives:
To review the four sets of symptom clusters commonly seen in patients with advanced illness, and their definitions, associated symptomatology, and management.
Data Sources:
Research and review articles and textbooks.
Conclusion:
Symptoms of patients with advanced illness tend to occur not isolation, but in symptom clusters. The ability to cluster symptoms in both assessment and management reduces the use of polypharmacy, systemic toxicities, and improves the patient's quality of life.
Implications For Nursing Practice:
It is important that the nurse providing symptom management for the oncology patient understand the importance of clustering certain symptoms together.
Related Concept Videos
Pneumonia II: Pathophysiology
Heart Failure III: Clinical Manifestations
Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia: Hallucinations and Delusions
Thought Disorders
Disorganized and unusual thought processes mark thought disorders in schizophrenia. One key feature is disorganized speech, where an individual's conversation includes loosely...
Chronic Kidney Disease II: Clinical Manifestations
Negative and Cognitive Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Negative Symptoms
Negative symptoms of schizophrenia manifest as deficits in normal emotional and behavioral functioning, profoundly impacting daily life. Individuals with schizophrenia often display a flat affect, characterized by a near-total absence of emotional expression,...
Classification of Illness
An illness is a response to a disease in which the person's level of functioning is changed compared with a previous level. The general classification of illness includes acute and chronic.
Acute illness is severe and...