Living with Symptoms: A Qualitative Study of Black Adults with Advanced Cancer Living in Poverty.
Katherine A Yeager, Tammie E Quest, Catherine Vena and 1 others
PMID 29249617WHAT IT FOUND
Black adults with advanced cancer living in poverty described pain and co-existing symptoms reshaping eating, moving and communicating.
They gauged severity by what they could no longer do, not only by rating numbers.
Key findings
01The experience was organised around two themes: living in pain and symptoms affecting everyday function.
02Participants spoke of pain as both physical and emotional, and of severe pain caused by cancer treatment.
03Symptoms were grouped by how they disrupted eating, moving and communicating, and participants judged severity by daily activity limits.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was qualitative, so it describes experiences rather than testing whether an intervention helps. Only 27 of 59 recruited participants completed interviews; 16 scheduled interviews were not completed, including 12 lost to follow-up, 2 hospitalizations, 1 sickness and 1 death. Participants came from one hospital system in one southeastern city; 14 were from palliative care and the others from various oncology clinics. Clinical staff helped with recruitment, which may have selected more outgoing or energetic patients. The study did not ask how poverty shaped symptoms, though two participants linked anxiety to money. Data were collected in 2010 and 2011, so current symptom experiences may differ.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest. The article is listed as supported by NIH extramural research funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as evidence that a symptom-management programme works. The study describes patients' experiences, not a tested treatment, and cannot show effectiveness.