Effects of a symptom cluster management intervention on the symptom cluster of pain-cough-fatigue-shortness of breath-anorexia and quality of life among post-thoracoscopic-surgery patients with lung cancer: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Purpose To construct a symptom cluster management intervention based on symptom cluster theory for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) undergoing 3D thoracoscopic lobectomy and evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of the intervention on a five-symptom cluster, including pain, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, anorexia, and quality of life (QoL) and hospital stay time of patients with lung cancer in the early period after lung cancer surgery. Methods A total of 100 patients with NSCLC after surgery from a hospital in a city in northern China from October 2019 to December 2019 were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (N = 50) or the control group (N = 50). The participants in the intervention group received symptom cluster management intervention based on the symptom management theory, while the control group received only usual care. The study outcomes, including pain, cough, shortness of breath, anorexia, fatigue, and QoL, were evaluated at baseline and on the first and fourth postoperative days. Results The baseline characteristic was comparable between the two groups. Pain, daytime cough, nighttime cough, fatigue, and shortness of breath were similar in both groups on the first postoperative day (all P > 0.05). Compared with the control group, the intervention group reported less pain, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, and anorexia and more QoL on the fourth postoperative day, and shorter postoperative hospital stay time (all P < 0.05). Conclusion The symptom management intervention appears to be a feasible and acceptable method to manage the five-symptom cluster, promote QoL, and reduce postoperative hospital stay time in patients with NSCLC. Future studies are needed to examine the long-term effects of this intervention. Trial registration This study is retrospectively registered at Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR2300076312).