title: Symptom distress and its association with traditional Chinese medicine use in Chinese American women with cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify symptom distress related to cancer for a group of Chinese American women in treatment, and to examine their use of various forms of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and their relationships to specific symptoms they identified.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional, correlational.
  
  
  METHODS
  American Cancer Society Asian Initiatives support groups in the state of New York.
  
  
  METHODS
  97 Chinese American women residing in New York with a mean age of 57 years; the time since diagnosis of cancer ranged from two months to 24 years. The type of diagnosis for the majority of women was breast cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  A self-reported questionnaire including a demographic data form, a researcher-developed checklist for types of TCM, and the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale Short Form (MSAS-SF) were administered. The MSAS-SF has three subscales: global distress index, psychological symptom distress scale, and physical symptom distress scale.
  
  
  METHODS
  Symptoms, symptom distress, and types of TCM. The descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney U tests were applied for data analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Chinese American women with cancer in treatment reported multiple symptoms, and the three MSAS-SF distress subscale scores indicated moderate symptom distress. Symptoms were positively associated with the use of TCM.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Chinese American women in treatment for cancer reported multiple symptoms and moderate symptom distress. Participants with specific symptoms tended to use specific forms of TCM.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High prevalence of psychological symptoms for Chinese American women with cancer suggests that oncology nurses should work with mental health providers for symptom management of this population. Oncology nurses also need to stay informed of the growing body of evidence on the benefits of TCM for patients with cancer. Future studies should include an emphasis on the improvement in methodologic quality for studies that investigate using TCM in participants with cancer.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing and Public Health, Adelphi University, Garden City, NY.
authors.forename: Shan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing and Public Health, Adelphi University, Garden City, NY.
authors.forename: Yiyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: New York Hospital Queens, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Louie
mesh_terms: D001213:Asian; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000523:psychology*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D009518:New York; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D063189:Symptom Assessment
keywords: Chinese American women; cancer; symptom; symptom distress; traditional Chinese medicine