Symptom Burden and Integrative Medicine Consultations Among Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer: Experience from a Tertiary Care Center.
This retrospective tertiary-center study describes symptom burden and integrative medicine consultation patterns among 272 patients aged 15–39 years with cancer, including frequent discussions of diet, supplements, and stress management and referrals to acupuncture or massage.
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This retrospective tertiary-center study describes symptom burden and integrative medicine consultation patterns among 272 patients aged 15–39 years with cancer, including frequent discussions of diet, supplements, and stress management and referrals to acupuncture or massage.
Research significance
The study documents substantial concurrent symptoms and use of integrative medicine services; it supports the hypothesis—but does not demonstrate—that structured integrative care could improve symptom management for adolescents and young adults with cancer.
Source abstract
Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer experience substantial symptom burden. Integrative medicine (IM) offers evidence-based symptom management, yet real-world data in AYAs are limited. We retrospectively examined initial IM visits for AYAs (15-39 years) at a tertiary cancer center, abstracting demographics, clinical characteristics, symptoms, and discussions/recommendations. Among 272 AYAs (59.6% female), 42.7% had three concurrent symptoms, most commonly nausea, gastrointestinal issues, and pain. Discussions addressed diet (91.2%), supplements (87.5%), and stress management (77.2%). Nearly half (46.0%) received at least one IM referral, most commonly acupuncture and massage (24.6% each). IM interventions may support symptom management in AYA oncology care.