The experience and communication of symptoms in advanced pancreatic cancer patients and their families
type: CreativeWork
description: Symptom management is the main focus of care for patients living with advanced pancreatic cancer (APC). However, evidence shows that symptom management is far from satisfactory for this population. Poorly managed symptoms have had a profound negative impact on APC patients’ and caregivers’ life. While communicating symptoms with healthcare providers is the first step to achieve effective symptom management, some studies have revealed the poor quality of symptom discussions among cancer patients, their caregivers, and healthcare providers. The purpose of this dissertation was to advance the sciences of nursing, symptom management, and patient/caregiver and provider communication in patients with APC. Chapter two, three, and four represented three sub-studies which addressed three specific aims: (1) synthesizing the current evidence regarding the symptom experience of patients with APC, (2) examining recorded healthcare encounters between patients with APC, their caregivers, and healthcare providers to better understand the symptom experiences of patients with APC as told to their healthcare providers, and (3) developing a typology describing patterns and essential elements of real discussions between APC patients/ caregivers and healthcare providers in regards to symptoms. Specifically, chapter two was an integrative review which synthesized sixteen quantitative studies (n=1630 pancreatic cancer patients) and found that pain, fatigue, and appetite loss were primary and intense symptoms experienced by patients with APC. Chapter three was a qualitative descriptive study which used content analysis to examine 37 transcripts of APC patient/caregiver-provider health encounters originally collected for a larger communication study. This study identified ten major symptom groups often described as intense, distressing, and negatively impacting their quality of life. For chapter four, thematic analysis was used to examine 37 transcripts of APC/giver and provider interactions…
abstract: Symptom management is the main focus of care for patients living with advanced pancreatic cancer (APC). However, evidence shows that symptom management is far from satisfactory for this population. Poorly managed symptoms have had a profound negative impact on APC patients’ and caregivers’ life. While communicating symptoms with healthcare providers is the first step to achieve effective symptom management, some studies have revealed the poor quality of symptom discussions among cancer patients, their caregivers, and healthcare providers. The purpose of this dissertation was to advance the sciences of nursing, symptom management, and patient/caregiver and provider communication in patients with APC. Chapter two, three, and four represented three sub-studies which addressed three specific aims: (1) synthesizing the current evidence regarding the symptom experience of patients with APC, (2) examining recorded healthcare encounters between patients with APC, their caregivers, and healthcare providers to better understand the symptom experiences of patients with APC as told to their healthcare providers, and (3) developing a typology describing patterns and essential elements of real discussions between APC patients/ caregivers and healthcare providers in regards to symptoms. Specifically, chapter two was an integrative review which synthesized sixteen quantitative studies (n=1630 pancreatic cancer patients) and found that pain, fatigue, and appetite loss were primary and intense symptoms experienced by patients with APC. Chapter three was a qualitative descriptive study which used content analysis to examine 37 transcripts of APC patient/caregiver-provider health encounters originally collected for a larger communication study. This study identified ten major symptom groups often described as intense, distressing, and negatively impacting their quality of life. For chapter four, thematic analysis was used to examine 37 transcripts of APC/giver and provider interactions…
author: Tang, Chia-Chun
language: en_US
keywords: Cancer care, Communication, Qualitative descriptive, Symptom experience, Symptom management, Thematic analysis
date published: 2017-06-13
date modified: 2026-07-24T02:40:35Z
provider: IUPUI
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: IUPUI

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/1805/13852

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.7912/C2/1297

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.7912/C2H06C