Synergistic Impact of the Symptom Cluster on Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Secondary Data Analysis.
Fei Fei, Jonathan Koffman, Xiaohan Zhang and 1 others
PMID 35362332WHAT IT FOUND
Anxiety-depression, dyspnea-depression, and anxiety-sleep clusters were each associated with worse health-related quality of life in 106 COPD patients.
Anxiety and depression alone were not associated.
Key findings
01Three symptom clusters were identified: dyspnea-depression, anxiety-sleep, and depression-anxiety.
02After adjustment, all three clusters were associated with worse health-related quality of life.
03The depression-anxiety cluster was associated with worse health-related quality of life, while depression alone and anxiety alone were not.
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 106 patients at one hospital in China, so results may not apply elsewhere. The study used a cross-sectional survey design, not a treatment trial. Comorbidities were not recorded, making it hard to know whether symptoms were due to COPD or other conditions. Anxiety and depression may have been underreported because of cultural tendencies to emphasise physical symptoms. Only four symptoms were examined, so other symptom clusters may have been missed. Symptoms were based on self-report and scale cut-offs, not clinical diagnoses.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. The study received funding from the China Scholarship Council under grant number 201806170005.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that treating a symptom cluster will improve quality of life. This was a cross-sectional survey of patients' reported symptoms, not a treatment trial, so it can only show associations.