{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,14]],"date-time":"2026-05-14T05:10:46Z","timestamp":1778735446175,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,14]],"date-time":"2026-05-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778716800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Nutr."],"abstract":"\n Introduction<\/jats:title>\n Patients with esophageal cancer are at high risk of malnutrition, with family caregivers playing an indispensable role in nutritional management. However, the dynamic and heterogeneous changes of nutritional support needs of patients after radical esophagectomy, viewed from the perspectives of both patients and their caregivers, remain poorly understood. This may potentially hinder the development of timely and tailored interventions. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the longitudinal trajectories of nutritional support needs within patient\u2013caregiver dyads and identify distinct patterns of change over time, and explore associated influencing factors.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n This prospective longitudinal study recruited 159 patient\u2013caregiver dyads from a tertiary hospital in Shanghai, China, between August 2024 and January 2025. Data were collected at four time points: pre-discharge (T1), 2\u202fweeks (T2) post-discharge, 1\u202fmonth (T3) post-discharge, and 3\u202fmonths (T4) post-discharge. The Questionnaire of Nutritional Needs in Patients after Esophagectomy (QNN-E) was used to assess dyadic nutritional support needs. Trajectory homogeneity and heterogeneity were analyzed using latent growth curve modeling and latent class growth analysis. Baseline factors, including General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), quality of life (QLQ-OES18), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Activities of Daily Living (ADL), and Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA), were examined as predictors of trajectory membership.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n The nutritional support needs of patient\u2013caregiver dyads declined over time. Significant heterogeneity was observed in therapeutic diet preparation, symptom surveillance and complication management. For therapeutic diet preparation, two distinct trajectories emerged in the patients (\n Consistently Stable Needs<\/jats:italic>\n [16.4%] and\n Delayed Needs Escalation<\/jats:italic>\n [83.6%]), influenced by enteral access type and nutritional status. The trajectories of the family caregivers (\n High-need Declining<\/jats:italic>\n [47.2%] and\n High-need Sustenance<\/jats:italic>\n [52.8%]) were associated with educational level and relationship to the patient. In symptom surveillance and complication management, the trajectories of the patients were influenced by basic activities of daily living, while the trajectories of the caregivers were linked to the presence of other caregivers.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n The findings revealed significant heterogeneity in the postoperative nutritional support needs of patient-caregiver dyads, influenced by distinct factors. As primary providers of postoperative home-based nutritional care, caregivers\u2019 needs provide valuable insights for a more comprehensive understanding of postoperative nutritional care requirements. Continuity of nutritional care for patients with esophageal cancer should be grounded in dynamic and holistic assessments of their support needs, enabling personalized interventions at critical time points to improve postoperative recovery outcomes and care effectiveness.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2026.1789423","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,14]],"date-time":"2026-05-14T04:28:41Z","timestamp":1778732921000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Heterogeneous trajectories of nutritional support needs in patient\u2013caregiver dyads following radical esophagectomy: a latent class growth analysis"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Wei","family":"Guo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing, Naval Medical University","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jing","family":"Cui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Nursing, Naval Medical University","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yiqian","family":"Ni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yanhua","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Bowen","family":"Shi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The First Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xue","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University","place":["Henan, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wenqian","family":"Qi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Eye & ENT Hospital, Fudan University","place":["Shanghai, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yi","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, the 940th Hospital of Joint Logistic Support Force","place":["Lanzhou, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"50","DOI":"10.1080\/01635581.2019.1566478","article-title":"Nutritional risk assessment by scored patient-generated subjective global 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