A Systematic Review of Population-Based Studies of Chronic Bowel Symptoms in Cancer Survivors following Pelvic Radiotherapy.

ABSTRACT: Pelvic radiotherapy can damage surrounding tissue and organs, causing chronic conditions including bowel symptoms. We systematically identified quantitative, population-based studies of patient-reported bowel symptoms following pelvic radiotherapy to synthesize evidence of symptom type, prevalence, and severity. Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE, and PsychINFO were searched from inception to September 2022. Following independent screening of titles, abstracts, and full-texts, population and study characteristics and symptom findings were extracted, and narrative synthesis was conducted. In total, 45 papers (prostate, n = 39; gynecological, n = 6) reporting 19 datasets were included. Studies were methodologically heterogeneous. Most frequently assessed was bowel function ('score', 26 pa

SUBMITTER: Biran A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10452492 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature