Chemotherapy-related symptoms in colorectal cancer patients: A latent profile analysis

To investigate chemotherapy-related symptoms in colorectal cancer patients and to identify population characteristics in different potential categories. From November 2023 to September 2024, 710 colorectal cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in a hospital in Suzhou were selected as the participants by cluster sampling method. The general data questionnaire and Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale were used to investigate the patients. Latent profile analysis was used to examine the patterns of symptom severity, and multinomial logistic regression was used to explore the influencing factors of potential categories of chemotherapy-related symptoms. Chemotherapy-related symptoms could be divided into three groups: high physical-low psychological symptom group (n = 74, 10.42%), mild symptom group (n = 565, 79.58%), and high psychological-low physical symptom group (n = 71, 10.00%). Regression analysis showed that patients with low education were more likely to fall into the high psychological-low physical symptom group. Patients who did not have a stoma and had ≤ 6 chemotherapy sessions would fall into the mild symptom group. Patients with lower BMI and did not undergo surgery before chemotherapy would be in the high physical-low psychological symptom group. Chemotherapy-related symptoms of colorectal cancer patients are heterogeneous and can be divided into three categories. Based on the above indicators, more attention could be paid to patients with low BMI, low education level, more chemotherapy sessions, and those did not undergo surgery before chemotherapy.