Multiple symptoms and their influences on health-related quality of life in adolescents with hematologic malignancies undergoing chemotherapy

An understanding of symptom experiences is essential to improve patient outcomes. This cross-sectional, predictive correlation study investigated the symptom experiences and predictive abilities on health-related quality of life in 94 Thai adolescents with hematologic malignancies undergoing chemotherapy at the Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at three tertiary care hospitals in Bangkok. The Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms was used as the conceptual framework. Data were collected through a Demographic and Medical Record Form, the Modified Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale, and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory. The findings demonstrated that participants experienced several symptoms. The most prevalent were pain, nausea/vomiting, lack of appetite, worrying and hair loss. In addition, feeling sad, hair loss, and sleeping difficulty significantly influenced health-related quality of life and explained 33.2% of variances. The findings support the evidence of concurrent multiple symptoms. The implications for nursing practice are that nurses should attend to the symptoms of sadness, hair loss and sleeping difficulty in this patient group, and design interventions to manage these symptoms to improve their quality of life during chemotherapy treatment.