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. 2021 Mar 31;92(S2):e2021015.
doi: 10.23750/abm.v92iS2.11331.

Symptom clusters in cancer patients: An Italian survey to validate and describe unwarranted clinical variation, inequality in access to healthcare, knowledge, and risk of malpractice

Silvia Beloni  1 , Cristina Arrigoni  2 , Federica Dellafiore  3 , Orejeta Diamanti  4 , Alessio Piredda  5 , Rosario Caruso  6
Affiliations

Symptom clusters in cancer patients: An Italian survey to validate and describe unwarranted clinical variation, inequality in access to healthcare, knowledge, and risk of malpractice

Silvia Beloni et al. Acta Biomed. .

Abstract

Background and aims: The perceptions of professionals involved in cancer care regarding the importance of their symptoms-specific knowledge, unwarranted clinical variation (UCV), and inequalities in access to healthcare are still underdescribed. This study aims to confirm the construct validity of a previously initially developed questionnaire and describe nurses' perceptions about the relevance of their knowledge referred to cancer symptoms management, the UCV, the inequalities in access to healthcare, and malpractice risk.

Method: A cross-sectional pan-national study was conducted using a convenience sample, collecting data through a previously initially validated questionnaire. Construct validity was corroborated through confirmatory factor analysis, and descriptive statistics were employed for summarizing the questionnaire's scores. The scores between the nurses working in accredited cancer centers and nurses employed in general hospitals were inferentially compared.

Results: The sample comprised 810 nurses, 480 were nurses working in accredited cancer centers, and 330 were nurses working in general hospitals. The questionnaire showed adequate construct validity and reliability. Nurses perceived the cluster of psychosocial symptoms with a greater risk of UCV and inequalities in access to cancer services than the cluster of physical symptoms.

Discussion and conclusions: A paradigm shift aimed at integrating psychosocial cancer symptoms in the care paths emerged as pivotal for improving Italy's cancer care.

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Conflict of interest statement

Each author declares that he or she has no commercial associations (e.g., consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangement etc.) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Dimensionality of the questionnaire.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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