Objective:To understand the real psychological experience of dietary management among gastric cancer patients with diabetes during chemotherapy, and to provide reference for the formulation of targeted intervention measures.Methods:A phenomenological approach in qualitative research was applied. Using purposive sampling, 15 gastric cancer patients with diabetes who were hospitalized for chemotherapy in Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, from January to December 2024 were selected as study participants and were interviewed face-to-face in depth. The interview process was audio-recorded, and within 24 h after each interview, two researchers transcribed the recordings verbatim into textual data. Colaizzi's seven-step method of phenomenological analysis was adopted to organize and analyze the interview data.Results:A total of 4 themes and 10 sub-themes were extracted: cognitive bias in dietary management of dual diseases (one-sided understanding of diseases, obstacles in information acquisition and transformation) ; difficulties in dietary management under the synergy of diseases (contradiction between special nutritional needs during chemotherapy and blood glucose control, conflict between chemotherapy adverse reactions and dietary requirements for diabetes, lack of coordination in interdisciplinary nutritional guidance) ; positive experiences in dietary management (improvement in physical condition from scientific diet, joint support of family and medical staff in dietary management, knowledge empowerment enhancing self-achievement) ; personalized needs from the patients' perspective (need for operability in dietary practices, need for emotional and cognitive support) .Conclusions:Gastric cancer patients with diabetes face multiple challenges in dietary management during chemotherapy. Medical staff should gain an in-depth understanding of patients' real experiences and develop more humanized dietary management strategies to improve patients' quality of life and treatment outcomes.

Objective:To understand the real psychological experience of dietary management among gastric cancer patients with diabetes during chemotherapy, and to provide reference for the formulation of targeted intervention measures.Methods:A phenomenological approach in qualitative research was applied. Using purposive sampling, 15 gastric cancer patients with diabetes who were hospitalized for chemotherapy in Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, from January to December 2024 were selected as study participants and were interviewed face-to-face in depth. The interview process was audio-recorded, and within 24 h after each interview, two researchers transcribed the recordings verbatim into textual data. Colaizzi's seven-step method of phenomenological analysis was adopted to organize and analyze the interview data.Results:A total of 4 themes and 10 sub-themes were extracted: cognitive bias in dietary management of dual diseases (one-sided understanding of diseases, obstacles in information acquisition and transformation) ; difficulties in dietary management under the synergy of diseases (contradiction between special nutritional needs during chemotherapy and blood glucose control, conflict between chemotherapy adverse reactions and dietary requirements for diabetes, lack of coordination in interdisciplinary nutritional guidance) ; positive experiences in dietary management (improvement in physical condition from scientific diet, joint support of family and medical staff in dietary management, knowledge empowerment enhancing self-achievement) ; personalized needs from the patients' perspective (need for operability in dietary practices, need for emotional and cognitive support) .Conclusions:Gastric cancer patients with diabetes face multiple challenges in dietary management during chemotherapy. Medical staff should gain an in-depth understanding of patients' real experiences and develop more humanized dietary management strategies to improve patients' quality of life and treatment outcomes.