Correlation between symptom experience and fear of cancer recurrence in postoperative breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in China: A cross-sectional study

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OBJECTIVE: To analyze the relationship between experience of symptoms (e.g., pain, fatigue) and fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) in Chinese postoperative patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. METHODS: A total of 225 patients were recruited using convenience sampling. The Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory-Chinese Version and the Symptom Experience Index were used to collect data. The Mann-Whitney U test, Spearman's correlation, and multivariate analysis were employed to explore the relationships between symptom experience and FCR. RESULTS: The total Fear of Cancer Recurrence Inventory score in postoperative patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy was 43.19±22.83, and >64.0% of participants exhibited significant fear of cancer recurrence. The total score of symptom experience was 27.41±16.77, including scores of symptom severity (16.91±8.70) and symptom distress (10.50±8.89). Participants' symptom experience was positively correlated with fear of cancer recurrence (r = 0.353, P < 0.001). Patients with clinically relevant FCR had higher scores for total symptom experience (Z = -3.911, P<0.001), symptom severity (Z = -3.245, P = 0.001), and symptom distress (Z = -4.185, P<0.001), compared to patients without clinically relevant FCR. Symptom experience (b = 0.511, t = 6.474, P<0.001), age (b = -0.591, t = -4.201, P<0.001), and educational level (b = 4.147, t = 3.955, P<0.001) were statistically correlated with FCR, accounting for 27.0% of the variance. Among these variables, symptom experience demonstrated the strongest correlation, with a beta value of 0.371. CONCLUSION: This study followed others in identifying a cross-sectional relationship between symptom experience and FCR. Further prospective research is required to better understand the nature of this relationship.

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