Abstract: Objective: To investigate the Longitudinal changes about symptom clusters and quality of life in perioperative patients with gastric cancer at three-time points, and to explore the correlations between them. Methods: From October 2021 to June 2022, a total of 198 patients who planned to undergo surgical treatment were selected in the gastrointestinal surgery ward of a tertiary grade A hospital in Jinan, Shandong province. On the 1st day after admission (T1), 2-4 days after surgery (T2) and 1 month after surgery (T3), the general information questionnaire, the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory-Gastrointestinal Cancer Module, the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General were used to collect the relevant data. Results: There were 4 symptom clusters in perioperative gastric cancer patients, namely, the digestive tract symptom cluster, the energy deficiency symptom cluster, the psychological symptom cluster, and the surgery-related symptom cluster. There were significant differences in the severity scores of symptom clusters (except surgery-related symptom cluster) and in the total scores of quality of life at three-time points in the perioperative period (all P<0.05). The severity score of each symptom cluster (except surgery-related symptom cluster) was negatively correlated with the total score of quality of life. Conclusion: There are many symptom clusters in perioperative gastric cancer patients, and each symptom cluster remains relatively stable and changes dynamically, which can affect the quality of life of the patients. This study suggests that the management of symptom clusters is expected to improve the quality of life of patients with perioperative gastric cancer.

Key words: perioperation; gastric cancer; symptom cluster; quality of life