SYMPTOM CLUSTER AND THE IMPACT ON THE GLOBAL HEALTH QUALITY OF PATIENTS WITH ADVANCED CANCER

Abstract

Introduction: cancer patients can present multiple symptoms that are interrelated, forming the so-called clusters or groups of symptoms. Objective: to evaluate the relationship between a cluster of symptoms and the global quality of life of patients with advanced cancer. Method: analytical, cross-sectional study, which 146 patients participated. Sociodemographic characterization and quality of life assessment instruments were used - European Organization for Research and Treatment for Cancer. For data analysis, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were applied. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of UFRJ-Campus Macaé under nº 2,821,570. Data collection was carried out between July 2019 and February 2020 and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30), version 3, was used. Results: Spearman's correlation showed a positive correlation between the final score of the symptom scale and the final score of the global health assessment (ρ = 0.605; p <0.001). In addition, it was observed that the increase of 1 point in the question “Did you need to rest?” was associated with an increase of 5.87 points in the global health quality score (p <0.01), for the question “Did you feel tired?”, 6.14 points (p <0.01) and “Did you have shortness of breath?”, 5.08 points (p <0.01). Conclusion: there is a positive correlation between the cluster of symptoms composed of pain, fatigue, dyspnea, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, lack of appetite, constipation, diarrhea and the overall health quality of cancer patients.