Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Search research articles

Related Experiment Videos

Cancer symptom clusters: a validation study.

Mei-Ling Chen¹, Chia-Chin Lin

¹Graduate Institute of Nursing, Chang Gung University, Tao-Yuan, Taiwan. mechenl@mail.cgu.edu.tw

Journal of Pain and Symptom Management

|July 17, 2007

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Attitudes, Practices, and Perspectives of Oncology Nurses in Promoting Exercise Is Medicine Among Patients With Cancer in China: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Cancer nursing·2026

Same author

Interventions to Reduce Loneliness in Informal Caregivers of People With Dementia: A Systematic Review.

Journal of clinical nursing·2026

Same author

2026 Expert Consensus Recommendations on Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: A Report of the Task Force of the Taiwan Society of Cardiology.

Acta Cardiologica Sinica·2026

Same author

Couples Sharing Sleep and Sickness: Dyadic Sleep-Wake Patterns, Health Consequences, and Intervention Efficacy in Cancer Patient-Caregiver Dyads-A Systematic Review and Preliminary Meta-Analysis.

Psycho-oncology·2026

Same author

Empowering healthcare students in online interprofessional learning through virtual reality educational technology: A randomised controlled cross-over trial.

Nurse education today·2026

Same author

PCOS combined with obesity aggravates the metabolic and immune abnormality in females.

BMC women's health·2026

Same journal

Bereaved Parents and Spouses as Educators in Pediatric Simulation: Ethical Reflections.

Journal of pain and symptom management·2026

Same journal

The Unplugged Patient: A Case Report on Bridging the Digital Divide in Palliative Care.

Journal of pain and symptom management·2026

Same journal

Barriers perceived by palliative care fellowships in training physicians from diverse specialties.

Journal of pain and symptom management·2026

Same journal

Health Equity: Foundation of Serious Illness Care.

Journal of pain and symptom management·2026

Same journal

Coping with Breathlessness in Individuals with Lung Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Synthesis.

Journal of pain and symptom management·2026

Same journal

Growing the Next Generation of Hospice and Palliative Medicine Researchers.

Journal of pain and symptom management·2026

See all related articles

Cancer symptom clusters, including sickness, gastrointestinal, and emotional factors, were confirmed in a new sample. A modified model with appetite as a shared symptom improved data fit, highlighting the value of subscale scores.

Area of Science:

Oncology
Psychometrics
Symptom Science

Background:

Cancer patients frequently experience multiple concurrent symptoms, known as symptom clusters.
Previous studies identified various symptom clusters, but replication in new samples remained unverified.

Purpose of the Study:

To confirm the replicability of identified symptom clusters in a new sample of cancer patients.
To evaluate a three-factor model (sickness, gastrointestinal, emotional) and explore model modifications.

Main Methods:

Utilized the Taiwanese version of the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory to assess nine symptoms in 321 cancer patients.
Employed confirmatory factor analysis to evaluate the fit of a three-factor symptom cluster model.

Main Results:

Related Experiment Videos

The prespecified three-factor model showed a satisfactory fit, with a modified model (including appetite in two factors) demonstrating a significantly better fit.
Higher scores in sickness, gastrointestinal, and emotional factors correlated with poorer functional status.
Metastatic disease and combined chemotherapy/radiation therapy were linked to higher sickness and gastrointestinal scores; hospitalization affected emotional scores.

Conclusions:

The study confirmed the structure of cancer symptom clusters and demonstrated that a modified model offers a better representation.
Subscale scores based on meaningful symptom clusters may better capture the complex symptom experience of cancer patients than overall scores.