TY - JOUR
T1 - Identifying Symptom Clusters in Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy using Symptom Occurrence and Distress Dimensions
AU - Al Qadire, Mohammad
AU - Aljezawi, Ma’en
AU - Al Omari, Omar
AU - Alatoum, Aiah Monther
AU - Khalaf, Atika
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2022.
PY - 2022/6/5
Y1 - 2022/6/5
N2 - The current study explored symptom clusters in a heterogenous sample that includes all age groups, and all types of cancer being treated with chemotherapy. A cross-sectional survey design was used. The sample comprise 393 cancer patients with a mean age of 52.1 years (
SD 13.9). The most prevalent symptoms were tiredness (78.9%), lack of energy (71.8%), and irritability (66.9%) and the most distressing symptom was lack of appetite. Four clusters of the symptom experience: chemotherapy-related, psychological, fatigue and pain, and gastrointestinal symptoms, regardless of the dimension used, were identified. The content and number of symptoms within each cluster using the distress dimension were slightly different from the occurrence dimension. The findings call for an early comprehensive assessment and treatment of symptoms for patients undergoing chemotherapy. Also, healthcare providers especially nurses need to thoroughly assess and manage these symptoms to ease patients' experience, enhance their compliance and improve their quality of life.
AB - The current study explored symptom clusters in a heterogenous sample that includes all age groups, and all types of cancer being treated with chemotherapy. A cross-sectional survey design was used. The sample comprise 393 cancer patients with a mean age of 52.1 years (
SD 13.9). The most prevalent symptoms were tiredness (78.9%), lack of energy (71.8%), and irritability (66.9%) and the most distressing symptom was lack of appetite. Four clusters of the symptom experience: chemotherapy-related, psychological, fatigue and pain, and gastrointestinal symptoms, regardless of the dimension used, were identified. The content and number of symptoms within each cluster using the distress dimension were slightly different from the occurrence dimension. The findings call for an early comprehensive assessment and treatment of symptoms for patients undergoing chemotherapy. Also, healthcare providers especially nurses need to thoroughly assess and manage these symptoms to ease patients' experience, enhance their compliance and improve their quality of life.
KW - adult
KW - cancer
KW - chemotherapy
KW - cluster
KW - Jordan
KW - symptom
KW - Cross-Sectional Studies
KW - Humans
KW - Middle Aged
KW - Neoplasms/drug therapy
KW - Fatigue
KW - Quality of Life/psychology
KW - Pain
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85131510990&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85131510990&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/8c6d705d-a9e4-3cee-936b-532d736263a2/
U2 - 10.1177/10547738221100349
DO - 10.1177/10547738221100349
M3 - Article
C2 - 35658723
SN - 1054-7738
VL - 32
SP - 185
EP - 196
JO - Clinical Nursing Research
JF - Clinical Nursing Research
IS - 1
ER -
