AUTHOR=Huang Xiaoying , Yang Heng , Qiao Yanyan 

TITLE=Symptom experiences and influencing factors in patients undergoing chemotherapy for gastrointestinal cancers: a qualitative study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1264275

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1264275

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Objective</title><p>To explore the symptom experiences and influencing factors of gastrointestinal (GI) cancer patients on chemotherapy (CTX) in China.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Methods</title><p>Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 GI cancer patients undergoing CTX. Following the Colaizzi 7-step analysis method, the interview data were read carefully, meaningful statements related to the research questions were extracted, coded, collected, and described in detail, and the authenticity of the theme was verified.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Results</title><p>Nine themes were grouped into two main areas including the characteristics of symptom experiences and influences on symptom experiences.</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Conclusion</title><p>The symptom experiences of patients undergoing CTX for GI cancer is poor and influenced by multiple factors. Nurses need to pay attention to the assessment and monitoring of CTX-related symptoms, improve symptom recognition, enhance doctor-patient communication and social support, explore intelligent management methods, and increase the efficiency of healthcare services to improve patients’ symptom experience.</p></sec>