Postoperative Symptoms in Chinese Liver Cancer Patients: Network Analysis

N/ATerminatedNCT06419478

Mengmeng Yuan249 enrolled

Overview

Patients with primary liver cancer (PLC) experience a range of symptoms in the early postoperative period. Symptoms include cancer-related symptoms and adverse effects of treatment. Exploring the core symptoms and their dynamics in the early post-hepatectomy patients may help provide better symptom management programs. The purpose of this study was to identify the core symptoms in early post-hepatectomy patients and to explore the trajectory of their dynamics. During the period from March 2021 to September 2022, a total of 281 patients diagnosed with PLC and undergoing radical curative surgery were recruited from the hepatobiliary surgery departments of two hospitals in Eastern China, among whom 249 individuals (88.60%) agreed to participate in the study. A comprehensive symptom assessment was administered to the patients 1-2 days after surgery (T1) and 1-2 days before discharge (T2). Network analysis was used to identify core symptoms in early post-hepatectomy patients based on symptom severity.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

249

Conditions

Patients With Primary Liver Cancer (PLC) Undergoing Curative Surgical Procedures Importance of Identifying Core Symptoms for Improving Symptom Management in PLC Patients Application of Network Analysis as a Crucial Component of Cancer Care

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 40 YearsMax age: 90 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Eligible patients were ≥18 years of age; had a diagnosis of primary liver cancer based on pathologic examination; were receiving the first hepatectomy; were conscious, spoke Chinese, and had basic communication skills. Exclusion Criteria: * Exclusion criteria include concurrent malignant tumors, mental disorders, or consciousness impairments, as well as participation in other clinical interventions.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

MD Anderson Symptom Inventory

The MD Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI) is one of the most widely used symptom assessment tools for cancer patients in clinical and research settings and is used to evaluate the severity of symptoms and their impact on daily life. It consists of 13 core symptom items and 6 symptom interference items. The severity of each symptom is rated on an 11-point Likert scale (0 = "not at all" and 10 = "as bad as you can imagine"). The MDASI-C, a Chinese version translated in 2004 by Wang et al., has good reliability, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.82-0.94.

Time frame: 1-2 days after surgery (T1) and 1-2 days before discharge (T2).

Secondary Outcomes

Symptom Module Specific for Primary Liver Cancer

The Symptom Module Specific for Primary Liver Cancer (TSM-PLC) can serve as an important supplement to the MDASI, providing instrumental security for the systematic assessment of symptoms in patients PLC. It consists of six symptom items: abdominal distension, diarrhea, loss of weight, jaundice, pruritus, and fever. The six items were rated in the same format as the first part of the MDASI. The TSM-PLC has good reliability (Cronbach's alpha of 0.835 for internal consistency and content validity of 0.91).