Experience of living with symptom clusters in postoperative pancreatic cancer patients

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe symptom clusters (SCs), and symptom experiences in early postoperative patients with pancreatic cancer who are recovering at home. Methods: From October 2021 and April 2022,15 patients following pancreatic cancer surgery were recruited from a tertiary hospital in Jiangsu Province by maximum variation sampling. Semi-structured interviews were per-formed to collect data and thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the data. Results: Three themes were extracted from the data. The first theme difference in symptom perception and cognition illustrated factors such as patient knowledge, expected recovery status, and risk perception could influence patient symptom experience. Most patients actually reported fewer and less severe symptoms than previous studies. The second theme the results of symptom cluster demonstrated anorexia-distress SC, bow-el-digestive related SC and sleep disturbance related SC, and anorexia-distress SC should be considered as the priority SC given its multidimensional significance for patients. The last theme described the patient's positive attitudes, behaviours and barriers to coping with symptoms, namely symptom self-management experience. Conclusion: There are differences in the perception and interpretation of SCs in postoperative pancreatic cancer patients. Understanding the meaning of individual differences in the experience of symptoms can assist patients in the management of SCs. Medical staff should combine patient self-management strategies and evidence-based data to provide appropriate support at different stages to improve patient symptom management and quality of life.

Automated summary

This study aimed to describe symptom clusters and experiences in early postoperative patients with pancreatic cancer recovering at home. Through semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis, it was found that there are differences in perception and interpretation of symptoms among postoperative pancreatic cancer patients. Understanding the meaning of individual differences in symptom experiences can assist patients in managing symptom clusters.