1.Contemporaneous network analysis of pre-diagnosis symptom clusters and bridge symptoms in patients with acute coronary syndrome
Yahui WANG ; Min HE ; Jinbo ZHAO ; Renting XIE ; Yongchao HOU
Chinese Journal of Modern Nursing 2024;30(28):3832-3838
Objective:To explore the types of pre-diagnosis symptom clusters in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and identify bridge symptoms between symptom clusters.Methods:From May to October 2023, convenience sampling was used to select 243 ACS patients who visited Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital as participants. The General Information Questionnaire and Chinese version of the McSweeney Acute and Prodromal Myocardial Infarction Symptoms Survey were used for the survey. Exploratory factors were used to analyze symptom clusters, while network analysis was used to identify bridge symptoms between symptom clusters. A total of 243 questionnaires were distributed, and 230 valid questionnaires were collected, with a valid response rate of 94.7% (230/243) .Results:Before diagnosis, ACS patients had four symptom clusters, namely typical chest symptom cluster, typical shoulder and back symptom cluster, fatigue related symptom cluster, and cardiopulmonary symptom cluster. In symptom network analysis, fatigue and anxiety were bridge symptoms between symptom clusters, with fatigue having the highest expected impact coefficient ( rbei=0.387 3), followed by close centrality ( rbc=0.024 2). The bridge mediation ( rbb=35.000) and close centrality ( rbc=0.024 8) of anxiety were the highest. Conclusions:Fatigue and anxiety are bridge symptoms in ACS patients, connecting different symptom clusters. Identifying bridge symptoms is beneficial for improving the efficiency and accuracy of symptom management. Research needs to consider patient heterogeneity and conduct subgroup studies on symptom clusters to further explore the practical significance of core and bridge symptoms in clinical practice.