Symptom Clusters and Influencing Factors in Adult Patients With Haematological Malignancies During Chemotherapy: A Cross‐Sectional Study

ABSTRACT Aims To identify symptom clusters in haematological malignancy patients during chemotherapy and determine the factors associated with different symptom clusters. Design A cross‐sectional study. Method Convenience sampling was used to investigate haematological malignancy patients hospitalised for chemotherapy at a tertiary teaching hospital in Chengdu, China, from January 2021 to December 2023. Participants completed the Chinese version of the Condensed Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to identify symptom clusters; univariate analyses and logistic regression analyses were used to determine their related factors. This study was reported following the STROBE checklist. Results A total of 600 participants were included in the study. We have identified the psychological, sleep, pain‐fatigue, gastrointestinal‐asthenia symptom clusters in haematological malignancy patients during chemotherapy. Binary logistic regression analysis indicated that being female and having lactate dehydrogenase levels of 220 IU/L or higher are associated with an increased risk for the psychological symptom cluster. The sleep symptom cluster is more likely to occur in females, those with a prognostic nutritional index < 45, lactate dehydrogenase ≥ 220 IU/L and platelet‐to‐lymphocyte ratio ≥ 107.85. Female, the prognostic nutritional index < 45 and age ≥ 60 years are correlated with the pain‐fatigue symptom cluster. The gastrointestinal‐asthenia symptom cluster is related to female, a diagnosis of acute leukaemia or lymphoma, lactate dehydrogenase ≥ 220 IU/L and prognostic nutritional index < 45. Conclusion Adult haematological malignancy patients undergoing chemotherapy experience multiple symptoms that can be further divided into four symptom clusters. The occurrence of symptom clusters is influenced by a combination of patient sociodemographic characteristics, disease conditions and biochemical indicators. Relevance to Clinical Practice The symptom burden is a major issue for haematological malignancy patients during chemotherapy. Health caregivers should focus on the connection between symptoms rather than individual symptoms when developing and providing interventions. Identifying the factors influencing symptom clusters in haematological malignancy patients should be the basis for accurate, efficient and cost‐effective interventions. Patient or Public Contribution The patients completed the questionnaires during the data collection in this study.