Identification of symptom clusters and core symptoms in early postoperative rehabilitation of oral cancer patients
HE Cong
CHENG PeiYu
CHENG FangQun
CHEN SiYu
XUE Jing
XU Qiang
PENG Peng
Abstract：Objective:To investigate the occurrence of symptoms in patients in the early stage of postoperative rehabilitation for oral cancer,determine the symptom clusters and construct the symptom network,and identify the core symptoms in the symptom network.Methods:By using the convenience sampling method,patients with oral cancer who were re-examined in the head and neck surgery departments of two tertiary grade A hospitals in Hunan province from June 2024 to February 2025 and one month after the operation were selected as the research subjects.The general information questionnaire and M.D.Anderson Symptom Inventory-Head&Neck(MDASI-H&N)were used for the investigation.Exploratory factor analysis was adopted to extract symptom clusters.The R software was used to construct the symptom network and calculate the centrality index.Results:The top three common and severe symptoms in the early stage of postoperative rehabilitation for oral cancer patients are dry mouth,difficulty in swallowing or chewing,and abnormal taste.A total of four symptom clusters were extracted,namely the oral and throat symptom cluster,the emotional and sleep symptom cluster,the gastrointestinal symptom cluster,and the neurosensory related symptom cluster.Among them,the oral and throat symptom cluster was the most severe.In the symptom network,nausea and vomiting,pain and soreness in the mouth or throat,and dry mouth were strongly correlated with mucus in the mouth or throat.Dry mouth(rs=1.26,rE=1.26)and mucus in the mouth or throat(rs=1.13,rE=1.13)were symptoms with higher intensity and expected impact.Conclusions:Patients in the early stage of postoperative rehabilitation for oral cancer have multiple symptoms and symptom clusters.Dry mouth and oral or pharyngeal mucus are the core symptoms of patients in the early stage of postoperative rehabilitation for oral cancer.Medical staff can formulate precise and efficient intervention strategies based on the core symptoms to reduce their transmission effect in the symptom network and improve the quality of life of patients.
Keywords：oral cancersymptom clustersnetwork analysiscore symptomsnursing
Publication Date：2025-11-15
Online Publishing Date：2025-11-24(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：7( 4020-4026 )