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Experiences and requirements in nutritional management of patients with esophageal cancer: a systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis

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A Correction to this article was published on 18 November 2023

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Abstract

Purpose

Nutritional management of patients with esophageal cancer is a significant issue. This systematic review aimed to comprehensively synthesize qualitative research evidence on the experiences and requirements in nutritional management from the perspective of patients with esophageal cancer.

Methods

A systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative studies were conducted. Studies written in Chinese or English were retrieved from nine databases, namely, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Embase, CNKI, WanFang, VIP, and SinoMed, from inception to December 23, 2022. After screening the titles, abstracts, and full texts, 19 articles were finally included for quality assessment and meta-synthesis.

Results

Three comprehensive themes were derived. These were dietary experiences (perception of symptoms and dietary behaviors), emotional experiences (negative and positive emotions), and social support (inappropriate social support and inadequate nutritional management).

Conclusions

The experiences and requirements of esophageal cancer patients in terms of nutritional management during treatment and rehabilitation were reviewed and factors influencing nutritional management were discussed. The findings suggested that medical institutions should expedite the development of comprehensive nutritional management systems, create conducive nutritional environmental facilities, and establish interdisciplinary teams to implement personalized comprehensive interventional models for the management of patient nutrition. These steps would maximize the effectiveness of nutritional therapy, promote early patient recovery, and bridge the gap between healthcare professionals and patients in the understanding of nutritional management.

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Availability of data and materials

All data and materials generated or analyzed in this study are presented in this article [and its supplementary information files].

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Funding

This study was supported by the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (SJCX23_2039), Geriatric Health Research Project of Jiangsu Provincial Health Commission (LKZ2022019), and Social Development and Clinical Frontier Technology Project of Yangzhou Science and Technology Bureau (YZ2021078).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing and Public Health, Yangzhou University, 136 Jiangyang Middle Road, Yangzhou, 225009, Jiangsu Province, China

    Xinwei Wang, Xingyu Liu & Xiaojie Li

  2. Northern Jiangsu People’s Hospital, 98 Nantong West Road, Yangzhou, 225001, Jiangsu Province, China

    Zhie Gu & Yusheng Shu

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  1. Xinwei Wang
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  3. Zhie Gu
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Xinwei Wang: (1) conception and design of the study; (2) collection, assessment, extraction, and synthesis of data; (3) manuscript writing. Xinyu Liu: (1) collection, assessment, extraction, and synthesis of data; (2) funding acquisition; (3) revising the article. Zhie Gu: (1) assessment and extraction of data; (2) study supervision; (3) critical revisions. Xiaojie Li and Yusheng Shu: (1) synthesis of data; (2) revising the article. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yusheng Shu.

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Wang, X., Liu, X., Gu, Z. et al. Experiences and requirements in nutritional management of patients with esophageal cancer: a systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis. Support Care Cancer 31, 633 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-023-08100-y

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