Symptom Burden Survey and Symptom Clusters in Chemotherapy Period of Lung Cancer

Abstract

Abstract Purpose The objective of the study was to research the symptom burden and symptom distribution characteristic of lung cancer patients during chemotherapy, identify the symptom clusters (SCs) and explore the mechanism of lung cancer specific SC, so as to provide evidence for clinical staff to manage symptoms and SCs. Methods All participants were recruited at the inpatient Oncology Department of Guang 'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences between July 2022 to December 2022. Investigate the incidence and severity of symptoms of lung cancer patients during chemotherapy. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identifySCs. SCs were identified for the mild, moderate and severe symptoms and for the moderate and severe symptoms respectively. Spearmen correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between lung cancer specific SC and blood routine index. Results A total of 169 patients participated in the study. The study found that, among the 43 symptoms, the most prevalent and the most serious symptoms was loss appetite. Based on the occurrence rate and severity of symptoms, SC extraction was performed for mild, moderate and severe symptoms with a symptom incidence more than 20%, and five SCs were identified, including psycho–emotion SC, chemotherapy related SC, lung cancer specific SC, urinary related SC, and gastrointestinal SC. For moderate and severe symptoms, two SCs were identified, including chemotherapy related SC and lung cancer specific SC and the lung cancer specific SC was negative correlation with eosinophils. Conclusion Patients with lung cancer during chemotherapy have complex and diverse symptoms. Based on different SC extraction methods, five SCs and two SCs were identified respectively. At the same time, the study explored the potential biological mechanism of lung cancer specific SC, and it was showed that lung cancer specific SC was related to eosinophils negatively. In the future, more research should be done on the research tools, research methods, pathogenesis and intervention measures of SCs.