Symptom Clusters in Breast Cancer Survivors: A Latent Class Profile Analysis.
Lena Lee, Alyson Ross, Kathleen Griffith and 2 others
PMID 31845918WHAT IT FOUND
In 1,500 breast cancer survivors, 57% had normal symptoms, 19% pain with fatigue and sleep disturbance, 11% depression with fatigue and sleep disturbance, and 13% high burden.
Younger, not working, chemotherapy, and more comorbidities were linked to symptomatic clusters.
Key findings
01Four symptom clusters were identified among 1,500 breast cancer survivors: 57% had symptoms within normal limits, 19% had pain with fatigue and sleep disturbance, 11% had depression with fatigue and sleep disturbance, and 13% had all high symptom burden.
02Based on PROMIS thresholds, 64% reported pain, 61% sleep disturbance, 51% fatigue, and 32% depression.
03Compared with the normal-symptoms group, women younger than 65, not working, who had chemotherapy, and with more comorbid conditions were more likely to be in the pain-related or all-high symptom burden clusters.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a cross-sectional analysis, so it cannot show whether age, work, chemotherapy, or comorbidities caused the symptom clusters, or how clusters changed over time. It was a secondary analysis, so it lacked data on whether women were still receiving cancer treatment, had cancer progression or recurrence, or had previous treatment-related symptoms. The sample was predominantly White, non-Hispanic, married or cohabiting, college graduates, employed, and in a high-income group, so it may not apply to all breast cancer survivors. Symptoms were self-reported and only pain interference, fatigue, sleep disturbance, and depression were assessed. The data were collected between 2010 and 2012.
Declared interests
The authors reported no financial relationships to disclose.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that chemotherapy, not working, or comorbidities caused the symptom clusters. This was a cross-sectional analysis of existing survey data, so it only describes associations at one point in time.