Canonical correlations among symptom clusters, symptom experience, and symptom cluster management in male patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer: a cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE: Patients with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) experience multiple symptoms; however, the symptom clusters they experience remain unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to identify symptom clusters in male patients with NMIBC and examine their associations with symptom experience (uncertainty and grit) and symptom cluster management (health behaviour).

METHODS

This cross-sectional study analysed data collected using questionnaires administered via face-to-face interviews from 100 patients with NMIBC diagnosed after transurethral resection of bladder tumours between June and October 2024 at a tertiary hospital in a metropolitan city in South Korea. Data were analysed using descriptive analyses, independent t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Spearman's rank correlations, exploratory factor analyses, and canonical correlation analyses, as appropriate.

RESULTS

Five symptom clusters perceived by the patients with NMIBC were identified: sexual vitality dysfunction, anxiety, sexual dysfunction, urinary disorder discomfort, and abdominal distension. The canonical correlations among symptom clusters, symptom experience, and symptom cluster management was 0.60, representing a 36 % overlapping variance for the first pair of canonical variates. The canonical variates indicated that lower anxiety (Rs = -0.73), urinary discomfort (Rs = -0.49), abdominal distension (Rs = -0.43), and sexual vitality dysfunction (Rs = -0.49) were associated with lower uncertainty (Rs = -0.91), higher physical activity (Rs = 0.46), and lower alcohol consumption (Rs = -0.39).

CONCLUSION

Emotional symptom clusters were more frequent in patients with NMIBC. The occurrence of symptom clusters was associated with more symptom experiences and less symptom cluster management. Thus, nurses should implement psychosocial interventions to reduce negative symptom experiences and to improve symptom cluster management.