| [Objective]To invesigtate the intensity and frequency of symptoms in patients with postoperative chemotherapy for gastric cancer at different periods during clinical course,identify the composition of symptom clusters,and analysis the composition changes of symptom clusters at different time points.To explore the correlation between symptom clusters and quality of life,and provide reference for cancer symptom management[Methods]This study was a prospective longitudinal study,a total of 113 patients receiving chemotherapy after operation were recruited from a hospital in jiangsu and were investigated with the general information questionnaires,M.D.Anderson Symptom Inventory(MDASI),Quality of Life Instruments for Cancer Patients-Stomach cancer(QLICP-ST),and KPS.SPSS20.0 software was used for data analysis,descriptive analysis was used to analyse the general conditions,severity and frequency of symptoms,quality of life.Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the composition of symptom groups at different stages.Spearman correlation was used to analyze the correlation between symptom clusters and quality of life.[Results]1.The number of symptoms in patients with postoperative gastric cancer fluctuated from(9.31± 1.88)to(14.73±3.14);symptoms with higher symptoms and symptoms were:fatigue,pain,nausea,distress,etc.In addition to the pre-chemotherapy,the incidence and severity of fatigue at the other time points were ranked first,and the number,the severity of symptoms at different time points were statistically significant(p<0.01).2.Symptom clusters can be constituted at different times.Sickness symptom clusters,gastrointestinal symptom clusters,and emotional symptom clusters continued to exist.Gastric cancer-specific symptom clusters began to appear from T2 and persisted after that.T5-T6 appeared in the chemotherapy-related symptoms group.3.The score of quality of life fluctuated at 99.22±15.16～150.41 ± 19.57 at different times,The quality of life score was in a decreasing trend,and T4 was slightly elevated.The difference in total quality of life at different time points was statistically significant(p<0.01).4.There was a negative correlation between the number of symptoms at each time and the quality of life of patients,and the correlation was statistically significant(p<0.01),as well as the symptom severity.The correlations between sickness symptom clusters,gastrointestinal symptom clusters and quality of life in other periods were statistically significant(p<0.05),and the correlations of quality of life in emotional symptom clusters were statistically significant(p<0.05).Chemotherapy-related symptom clusters appeared at T6,which was negatively correlated with quality of life,but the correlation was not statistically significant(p>0.05).[Conclusions]1.Patients with gastric cancer receiving chemotherapy experienced multiple symptoms,high severity,and degree of distress,and the frequency and severity of symptoms at different time points were different,prompting clinical staff to assess the patient’s condition dynamically.2.Patients with gastric cancer formed different symptom groups in different stages,and the symptoms group had some dynamic and stability.The dynamic manifested in the symptom composition within the symptom group.The stability was reflected in the persistence of some symptom groups.3.The number,the severity of symptoms,and the symptom clusters had negatively relation with the quality of life of patients with gastric cancer after chemotherapy,which suggested that clinical medical staffs should improve patients’ quality of life by Effective symptom management... |
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