Latent Profile Analysis of Symptom Clusters in Children and Adolescents With Malignant Tumors During Radiotherapy

BACKGROUND: Children undergoing treatment for cancer may experience a range of adverse symptoms, yet there is limited information on the symptoms they experience during radiotherapy and the potential heterogeneity among these symptoms. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe the symptom profiles of children during radiotherapy, identify subgroups of children with cancer experiencing similar symptom patterns, and evaluate differences in demographic and clinical characteristics across these subgroups. METHODS: A total of 154 children were assessed using the Chinese version of the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale 10-18. Latent profile analysis was used to identify distinct subgroups of patients based on symptom occurrence profiles with a prevalence greater than 40%. RESULTS: Children experienced multiple adverse symptoms during radiotherapy. The best-fitting model identified 3 distinct symptom profiles: low symptom prevalence, high symptom prevalence, and high gastrointestinal symptom prevalence. Significant differences were observed among subgroups based on age, family income, demographic factors, and clinical characteristics, including treatment type, the number of patients currently receiving radiotherapy, radiotherapy site, and recent chemotherapy within the past week. CONCLUSIONS: This study found that children experienced various adverse symptoms during radiotherapy, with notable heterogeneity in symptom profiles identified through latent profile analysis. Symptom prevalence varied according to demographic and clinical characteristics. IMPLICATION FOR PRACTICE: This study highlights the need for healthcare providers to focus on different patient subgroups and provide targeted prevention and early intervention strategies for managing symptoms in children during radiotherapy.