Symptom Clusters That Included Gastrointestinal Symptoms Among Children Receiving Cancer Treatments: A Scoping Review

Abstract

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION: Composition and measurement of the gastrointestinal (GI) symptom cluster (SC) has been inconsistent; therefore, a gap exists in understanding of the GI SC. The purpose of this study was to synthesize findings from prior studies to better understand the GI SC and accompanying non-GI symptoms in children receiving cancer treatment. LITERATURE SEARCH: PubMed®, Embase®, CINAHL®, Scopus®, and PsycINFO® databases were searched through February 2022. Of 661 articles identified, 8 met inclusion criteria. DATA EVALUATION: A standardized investigator-developed form was used to extract data from eligible studies, including study and sample characteristics, analytic procedure, SCs that included GI symptoms, and influencing factors. SYNTHESIS: The 12 most frequently reported GI and accompanying non-GI symptoms were identified across 20 SCs. Phi correlation coefficients were calculated as indicators of strength of association between each pair of co-occurring symptoms within an SC. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH: Future studies should develop and test tools to comprehensively assess GI and accompanying non-GI symptoms and interventions that target shared underlying mechanisms.