Objectives: to identify publications about the applicability of the Symptom Management Theory in nursing care to pediatric, adolescent, adult and elderly patients.
Methods: scoping review following the steps: definition of the objective, research question and inclusion criteria; search, selection and analysis of publications; synthesis of results. The search occurred in the VHL, SciELO, CAPES and PubMed Journals Portal bases, contemplating publications between 1994 and July 2020.
Results: out of 3,286 studies, ten were selected, published between 2008 and 2019. They described the relationships between the participants and the domains (person, environment, health and disease), components (symptom experience, management strategies, results) and presented strategies for symptom management.
Conclusions: the Symptom Management Theory was considered applicable to the participants of the studies and to nursing care. It was concluded that understanding the interaction of these elements is essential to plan actions aimed at controlling symptoms effectively.