Symptom Management for Adults with Cancer

The current ANS featured article is titled “Symptom management Theory: Analysis, Evaluation, and Implications for Caring for Adults with Cancer” by authors Asha Mathew, MBA, MSN, RN, RM; Ardith Z. Doorenbos, PhD, RN, FAAN; and Catherine Vincent, PhD, RN; College of Nursing, University of Illinois, Chicago. The PDF of the article is available for download at no cost while it is featured, and we encourage readers to share your responses here. Asha Mathew sent this summary of their work for ANS blog readers:

Theories of symptom management help nurse researchers organize the intricate relationships within the symptom experience. Our article presents a detailed analysis of the Symptom Management Theory (SMT) using Fawcett and De-Santo Madeya’s criteria for theory critique. To examine the application of SMT among adults with cancer, we performed a systematic review and identified 20 research studies that operationalized SMT concepts and propositions in adults with cancer. Further, using Silva’s evaluation criteria for empirical testing of a theory, we identified that only 35% of the studies had used the SMT to an adequate extent. We concluded that using SMT in longitudinal studies and comparing cancer-related outcomes with and without use of SMT are warranted.