Symptom management in Chinese adults with end stage renal disease (ESRD).
Nicole Levy, Wing Cheung, Haley McDonald and 4 others
PMID 35307124WHAT IT FOUND
Chinese-American patients with end-stage renal disease reported symptoms similar to average and used common symptom-management strategies, but evidence for those strategies was limited.
Key findings
0130 Chinese-American patients with ESRD reported symptom severity mostly at or below average compared with reference populations.
02Patients most often used napping for fatigue (23 patients, 56.5%), over-the-counter medication for pain (21, 28.6%), relaxation for sleep disturbance (21, 33.3%) and anxiety (9, 77.8%), decreased activity for breathing difficulty (6, 50%), prescribed treatment for nausea/vomiting (6, 33.3%) and itching (16, 43.7%), and high fiber for constipation (20, 55.0%).
03Lower emotional wellbeing was associated with higher fatigue, pain, nausea, constipation, and especially anxiety.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study included only 30 patients, so it cannot show what works for Chinese-American ESRD patients more broadly. It did not randomise patients or test interventions, so it cannot prove that any strategy improved symptoms. The comorbidity comparisons and correlations were not powered for those questions, and the authors say they should be read with caution. Patients may have underreported symptoms because some Chinese participants may view physical or emotional symptoms as normal or avoid expressing them. Evidence for the strategies came partly from workers, military teams, general pain studies, or small reviews, not from ESRD patients using the same strategies.
Declared interests
Authors declared no conflicts of interest. The article is listed as NIH extramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read napping, relaxation, over-the-counter pain medication, or fiber as proven to relieve ESRD symptoms. The study did not test these strategies in patients; it described what 30 patients used and searched outside evidence, much of which came from other populations.