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Published on: December 14, 2020
Trajectory of change in symptom patterns among patients undergoing surgery for oesophageal cancer: a prospective
Xuanxuan Ma1, Mengmeng Yuan1, Lijun Wu2
1School of Nursing, Anhui Medical University, NO.15 Feicui Road, Hefei, 230601, Anhui Province, China.
Purpose:
Patients with oesophageal cancer may experience a heavy burden of postoperative symptoms. There is insufficient evidence to fully explain the role of symptom clusters in the trajectory of cancer care for patients with oesophagectomy. The aim of this study was to identify the change trajectory of individual symptoms after surgery.
Methods:
A prospective longitudinal study was conducted to investigate patients' experience of symptoms at four time points after surgery. Latent profile analysis was used to identify patients' unique postoperative symptom experiences, and latent transition analysis was used to identify changes in patient symptom patterns across time points.
Results:
Among the 398 patients, there were three symptom groups: the "persistent fatigue group", "fluctuating physical symptoms group", and "high symptoms group". Over time, the "persistent fatigue group" had a greater than 70% probability of remaining in this group, while the "fluctuating physical symptoms group" and "high symptoms group" had a large change in transition. Anastomotic site, primary caregiver, and cancer stage were found to predict the pattern of transition between symptom groups.
Conclusions:
Patients' experience of symptoms changes over time, and it is important to target interventions based on the trajectory of symptoms to improve symptom management in oesophageal cancer patients.
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