Understanding mHealth Patient-Reported Priority Symptoms for Gynecologic Cancer During Chemotherapy: A Secondary Analysis

Objectives: To determine the percentage of and the most prevalent moderate to severe symptoms and to analyze longitudinal patterns and co-occurrence of symptoms during the first three cycles of chemotherapy.

Sample & Setting: A secondary analysis of 26 women with gynecologic cancer who reported daily symptoms.

Methods & Variables: Moderate to severe symptom presence and severity levels were calculated as proportions. Symptoms for each patient were graphed during three cycles and analyzed for patterns of onset, duration, and clustering.

Results: Patients completed 1,562 calls to the remote symptom monitoring system. The most commonly reported moderate to severe symptoms were pain, fatigue, and trouble sleeping. Pain and fatigue co-occurred with trouble sleeping in one symptom pattern. Patterns included no moderate to severe symptoms, moderate to severe symptoms during one cycle, moderate to severe symptoms during two cycles, and moderate to severe symptoms during all cycles.

Implications for Nursing: Nurses should consistently assess symptoms across cycles. To verify distinct classes of symptoms and better target interventions, further study is warranted.