Identification of symptom clusters and sentinel symptoms in preoperative patients with oral and maxillofacial cancers: A cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE: By investigating the occurrence of symptoms in preoperative patients with oral and maxillofacial cancers, potential associations existing between symptoms were explored to identify symptom clusters in patients, and further determine the sentinel symptoms of each cluster.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, 116 oral and maxillofacial cancer patients who were in the preoperative preparatory period were selected using the convenience sampling method. The Chinese version of the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory-Head & Neck Module was used to investigate patients' symptoms. Symptom clusters were extracted by Exploratory Factor Analysis. Following Apriori algorithm, the sentinel symptoms for each symptom cluster were extracted.

RESULTS

The most common symptom reported by patients in this study was problems with teeth or gums. A total of four symptom clusters were extracted, namely the oropharyngeal discomfort symptom cluster, the fatigue-sleep-psychological symptom cluster, the eating disorders symptom cluster, and the sickness-sensing behavioral symptom cluster, which collectively explained 66.566% of the total variance. Through sentinel symptoms analysis, three sentinel symptoms were identified, which were mouth/throat soreness, sadness, and lack of appetite.

CONCLUSION

Public health practitioners should consider sentinel symptoms as a critical approach to the management of symptom clusters, and implement effective intervention strategies to prevent or alleviate the occurrence and progression of symptoms.