Journal
RESEARCH IN NURSING & HEALTH
Volume 32, Issue 3, Pages 345-360Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/nur.20323
Keywords
symptom clusters; cancer; symptoms; multivariate; factor analysis; cluster analysis
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Funding
- Queensland University of Technology, Australia
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Multivariate methods are required to assess the interrelationships among multiple, concurrent symptoms. We examined the conceptual and contextual appropriateness of commonly used multivariate methods for cancer symptom cluster identification. From 178 publications identified in an online database search of Medline, CINAHL, and PsycINFO, limited to articles published in English, 10 years prior to March 2007, 13 cross-sectional studies met the inclusion criteria. Conceptually, common factor analysis (FA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) are appropriate for symptom cluster identification, not principal component analysis. As a basis for new directions in symptom management, FA methods are more appropriate than HCA. Principal axis factoring or maximum likelihood factoring, the scree plot, oblique rotation, and clinical interpretation are recommended approaches to symptom cluster identification. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Res Nurs Health 32:345-360, 2009
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