Correlation analysis of the effects of symptom clusters of cancer patients on their life quality in Shanghai community / 肿瘤

ABSTRACT

Objective: A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the general symptom clusters and study its influence on life quality of cancer patients in community. The association between the symptom clusters and life qualities was analyzed to provide guidance for targeted intervention. Methods: We randomly selected 200 cancer patients living in Pengpu Community from "Shanghai Cancer Patients Database". They filled in the Chinese version of Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) selfrating scale. Partial correlation and multiple linear regression analysis were used for statistical analysis. Results: Partial correlation analysis showed that symptom clusters had no apparent correlation with the score of social/family well-being in FACT-G scale. The symptom clusters including anorexia, insomnia, fatigue, pain, and diarrhea mainly correlated with the scores of FACT-G self-rating scale. Multiple linear regression analysis explained 13.2% of the variance in FACT-G score, explained 41.8% of the variance in physical well-being, explained 27.0% of the variance in emotional well-being, and explained 4.2% of the variance in functional well-being, respectively. Conclusion: The life qualities of tumor patients in Shanghai community were associated with anorexia, pain, and insomnia named as QOL-related symptom clusters. Paying attentiation to QOL-related symptom clusters may help health care professionals to increase the intervention efficacy and improve the life quality of tumor patients.