College of Nursing, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO 80045, USA.
Cancer Nurs. 2012 Mar-Apr;35(2):E1-11. doi: 10.1097/NCC.0b013e3182277222.
Symptom clusters assessment shifts the clinical focus from a specific symptom to the patient's experience as a whole. Few studies have examined breast cancer symptom clusters during treatment, and fewer studies have addressed symptom clusters during radiation therapy (RT). The theoretical underpinning of this study is the Symptoms Experience Model. Research is needed to identify antecedents and consequences of cancer-related symptom clusters.
The present study was intended to determine the clustering of symptoms during RT in women with breast cancer and significant correlations among the symptoms, individual characteristics, and mood.
A secondary data analysis from a descriptive correlational study of 93 women at weeks 3 to 7 of RT from centers in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States, Symptom Distress Scale, the subscales of the Positive and Negative Affect Scale, Life Orientation Test, and Self-transcendence Scale were completed.
Confirmatory factor analysis revealed symptoms grouped into 3 distinct clusters: pain-insomnia-fatigue, cognitive disturbance-outlook, and gastrointestinal. The pain-insomnia-fatigue and cognitive disturbance-outlook clusters were associated with individual characteristics, optimism, self-transcendence, and positive and negative mood. The gastrointestinal cluster correlated significantly only with positive mood.
This study provides insight into symptoms that group together and the relationship of symptom clusters to antecedents and mood.
These findings underscore the need to define and standardize the measurement of symptom clusters and understand variability in concurrent symptoms. Attention to symptom clusters shifts the clinical focus from a specific symptom to the patient's experience as a whole and helps identify the most effective interventions.
症状群评估将临床关注点从特定症状转移到患者的整体体验。很少有研究在治疗期间检查乳腺癌症状群，更少的研究涉及放射治疗（RT）期间的症状群。本研究的理论基础是症状体验模型。需要研究确定癌症相关症状群的前因和后果。
本研究旨在确定乳腺癌女性在接受 RT 期间的症状聚类，以及症状、个体特征和情绪之间的显著相关性。
这是一项来自美国中大西洋地区中心的 93 名女性在 RT 第 3 至 7 周的描述性相关性研究的二次数据分析，使用了症状困扰量表、正负情感量表的子量表、生活取向测验和自我超越量表。
验证性因素分析显示，症状分为 3 个不同的集群：疼痛-失眠-疲劳、认知障碍-展望、胃肠道。疼痛-失眠-疲劳和认知障碍-展望集群与个体特征、乐观、自我超越以及正负情绪有关。胃肠道集群仅与积极情绪显著相关。
本研究深入了解了聚集在一起的症状以及症状集群与前因和情绪的关系。
这些发现强调了定义和标准化症状群测量以及理解并发症状变异性的必要性。对症状群的关注将临床关注点从特定症状转移到患者的整体体验，有助于确定最有效的干预措施。
