RESUMEN
AIM: To analyse the etiological factors of the nursing diagnosis of impaired comfort in children and adolescents with cancer. DESIGN: This cross-sectional study was carried out in the referral unit for the treatment of childhood cancer in a tertiary hospital located in northeastern Brazil. METHODS: A total of 200 children and adolescents who were undergoing cancer treatment were included in this study. Data collection instruments and protocols were constructed with operational and conceptual definitions of clinical indicators and etiological factors for the nursing diagnosis of impaired comfort. A latent class model with adjusted random effects was used to determine impaired comfort and measures of sensitivity and specificity of clinical indicators. A univariate logistic regression analysis was performed for each etiological factor of impaired comfort. RESULTS: The analysis of etiological factors for the nursing diagnosis of impaired comfort in children and adolescents with cancer showed the high prevalence of four factors: noxious environmental stimuli, insufficient situational control, insufficient resources and insufficient environmental control. Illness-related symptoms, noxious environmental stimuli, and insufficient environmental control increased the chance of impaired comfort occurring. CONCLUSION: The etiological factors with the highest prevalence and most significant impact on the occurrence of impaired comfort were noxious environmental stimuli, insufficient situational control and illness-related symptoms. IMPACT: The results obtained in this investigation can support more accurate nursing diagnostic inference of impaired comfort in children and adolescents with cancer. Moreover, the results can inform direct interventions for the modifiable factors that trigger this phenomenon to avoid or minimize the signs and symptoms of the nursing diagnosis.