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Background: The role of palliative care for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients have been proven in some developed countries, but it is still unclear in the mainland of China. In fact, patients with ESRD experience many unmet palliative care needs, such as physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs, but the factors influencing these needs have not investigated. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at two hemodialysis centers in the mainland of China from January to September 2022. Convenience sampling was used to collect data on the participants' socio-demographics, clinical characteristics, the Palliative Care Outcome Scale (POS), the Dialysis Symptom Index (DSI), the Karnofsky Performance Status Scale (KPS), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 item (PHQ-9), and the Social Support Rate Scale (SSRS). Data were analyzed using latent profile analysis, Kruskal–Wallis test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), the chi-square test and multinomial logistic regression analysis. Results: Three hundred five participants were included in this study, and divided palliative care needs into three categories: Class 1, mild palliative care needs (n = 154, 50.5%); Class 2, moderate palliative care needs (n = 89, 29.2%); Class 3, severe palliative care needs (n = 62, 20.3%). Based on the analysis of three profiles, the influencing factors of unmet needs were further analyzed. Compared with Class 3, senior high school education, the household per capita monthly income < 2,000, low KPS scores, high PHQ-9 scores, and low SSRS scores were less likely to be in Class 1 (OR = 0.03, P = 0.012; OR = 0.003, P < 0.001; OR = 1.15, P < 0.001; OR = 0.55, P < 0.001; OR = 1.35, P = 0.002; respectively) and Class 2 (OR = 0.03, P = 0.007; OR = 0.05, P = 0.011; OR = 1.10, P = 0.001; OR = 0.60, P = 0.001; OR = 1.32, P = 0.003; respectively), and high symptom severity were less likely to be in Class 1 (OR = 0.82, P = 0.001). Moreover, compared with Class 1, the household per capita monthly income < 2,000 (OR = 16.41, P < 0.001), high symptom severity scores (OR = 1.12, P = 0.002) and low KPS scores (OR = 0.95, P = 0.002) were more likely to be in Class 2. Conclusions: This study showed that almost half of ESRD patients receiving MHD presented moderate to severe palliative care needs, and the unmet needs were mainly affected by education level, financial pressure, functional status, symptom burden and social support. In the future, it is important to identify the populations with the greatest need for palliative care and consider the influencing factors of unmet needs from a comprehensive perspective, so as to help them improve health-related quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dietary patterns and symptoms research among Chinese with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and its precursor lesions is limited, especially as it relates to multiple food consumption and multiple co-occurring symptoms. The aim of our study was to identify the dietary patterns and severity of symptom classes with the risk of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and its histological precursor lesions, and develop a risk prediction model for different stages of esophageal disease.Methods: We analyzed data from a multicenter cross-sectional study carried out in ESCC high incidence areas between 2017 and 2018, which included 34,707 individuals aged 40-69 years. Dietary patterns and severity of symptom classes were derived by applying a latent class analysis (LCA). A multiple logistic regression model was used to derive the odds ratio (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for ESCC and the different stages of esophageal disease according to the dietary patterns and severity of symptom classes identified. We built the risk prediction model by using a nomogram.Results: We identified five dietary patterns and three severity of symptom classes. The dietary patterns were classified as follows: "Healthy", "Western", "Lower consumers-combination", "Medium consumers-combination" and "Higher consumers-combination" patterns based on the intake of foods such as red meat, vegetables and fruits. The severity of symptoms was categorized into "Asymptomatic", "Mild symptoms" and "Overt symptoms" classes based on health-related symptoms reported by the participants. Compared to the "Healthy" pattern, the other four patterns were all associated with an increased risk of esophageal disease. Similarly, the other two symptom classes present different degrees of increased risk of esophageal disease compared to the "Asymptomatic". The nomograms reflect the good predictive ability of the model.Conclusion: Among individuals aged 40-69 years in high incidence regions of upper gastrointestinal cancer, the results supplied that subjects with diets rich in livestock and poultry meat and low in fruits and vegetables and subjects with typical symptoms were at increased ESCC risk. The findings highlight the importance of considering food and symptom combinations in cancer risk evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]