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Symptom clusters in cancer patients.
Mei-Ling Chen1, Ho-Ching Tseng
1Graduate Institute of Nursing, Chang Gung University, 259 Wen-Hwa 1st Road, Kwei-Shan, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan. mechenl@mail.cgu.edu.tw
Summary
Cancer patients experience symptom clusters: sickness, gastrointestinal, and emotional. Understanding these patterns aids healthcare professionals in managing patient care and potential underlying mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Symptom Science
- Psychometrics
Background:
- Cancer patients frequently report multiple, interconnected symptoms.
- Understanding symptom co-occurrence is crucial for effective patient management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify distinct clusters of cancer-related symptoms.
- To validate the conceptual meaning of these identified symptom clusters.
Main Methods:
- Principal-axis factoring with oblique rotation was used to analyze symptom severity data from 151 cancer patients.
- The M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory assessed symptom severity.
- Known-group technique validated the conceptual meaning of symptom clusters.
Main Results:
- A three-factor solution explained 55% of the variance, yielding sickness, gastrointestinal, and emotional symptom clusters.
- Sickness cluster scores correlated with pain and advanced disease, and negatively with functional status.
- Gastrointestinal cluster scores were higher in patients undergoing chemotherapy.
- Emotional cluster scores were higher in patients with anxiety or depression.
Conclusions:
- Three distinct symptom clusters (sickness, gastrointestinal, emotional) were identified in cancer patients.
- Validation confirmed the conceptual meaning of these clusters.
- Knowledge of these clusters can inform healthcare professionals about symptom aggregation mechanisms.