Symptoms, care needs and diagnosis in palliative cancer patients in acute care hospitals: A 5-year follow-up survey

Figures & data

Table I. Characteristics and situational data of the palliative cancer patients (n=520).

	2002			2007
	All (n=192)#	Male (n=107)	Female(n=80)	All (n=328)	Male (n=182)	Female (n=146)
Age; mean, (quartiles)	70 (62-71-79)	71 (62-73-78)	70 (61-69-79)	74 (67-76-83)**	74 (76-66-84)*	74 (69-76-82)*
Oncology ward (%) ŧ	31	25	40	37	36	38
Surgical ward (%) ŧ	55	56	50	40	37**	43
Medical ward (%) ŧ	14	19	10	23	27	19
Number of symptoms and care needs per patient; mean, median (range)	1.6, 1 (1-5)	1.7, 1 (1-4)	1.5, 1 (1-5)	2.6, 2 (1-9)***	2.6, 2 (1-6)***	2.7, 2 (1-9)***

# = gender not given in five patients.

ŧ = the percentage describes the distribution of the palliative cancer patients between the wards, but not the percentage within the ward.

Significant difference between the years, *p=<0.05, **p=<0.01, ***p=<0.001.

Table II. Prevalence of symptoms and care needs for palliative cancer patients during hospitalization.

	2002			2007
Symptoms and care needs	All % (n=192) #	Male % (n=107)	Female % (n=80)	All % (n=328)	Male % (n=182)	Female % (n=146)
Abdominal surgery	6	4	8	5	3	8
Blood transfusion	8	9	8	13	13	12
Deterioration	27	30	24	44 a***	42♂*	47♀**
Diagnostic procedure	9	8	10	24 a***	25♂***	23♀*
Infection	7	8	6	25 a***	27♂***	23♀**
Infusion	3	4	3	13 a***	10	17♀**
Nausea	17	22	13	19	14	25♀*
Nutrition	10	11	9	3 a**	2♂**	4
Pain	39	41	35	44	44	45
Radiotherapy	7	8	5	17 a**	20♂**	13
Social issues	6	6	8	17 a**	16♂**	17
Surgical stenting	3	3	3	10 a**	ll♂*	9
Other	4	6	3	13 a**	14♂**	11♀**

# = gender not given in five patients.

a = significant difference between the years for all, ♂ = significant difference between the years for male, ♀= significant difference between the years for female. *p=<0.05, **p=<0.01, ***p=<0.001.

Table III. Prevalence of cancer sites in palliative cancer patients.

	2002			2007
Cancer site	All % (n=192) #	Male % (n=107)	Female % (n=80)	All % (n=328)	Male % (n=182)	Female % (n=146)
Breast	4	-	10	6	-	13
Colorectal	15	15	15	13	12	14
Gynaecological	10	-	21	6	-	13
Haematological	5	5	4	12 a**	14 ♂*	11
Lung	12	15	9	12	14	10
Pancreas	10	12	6	8	6	11
Prostate	18	31	-	13	24	-
Stomach/oesophagus	5	6	4	6	6	7
Unknown primary	5	1	11	6	3	10
Urological	11	13	8	8	11	5
Other	5	2	12	10	10	6

# = gender not given in five patients.

a = significant difference between the years for all, ♂= significant difference between the years for male, ♀ = significant difference between the years for female. *p=<0.05, **p=<0.01, ***p=<0.001.

Table IV. Relationships between symptoms and care needs with cancer sites for palliative cancer patients in 2007.

	All (n=328)^α
Symptoms and care needs	Cancer site	p-value	OR	95% CI	Nagelkerke R-Square
Abdominal surgery	Colorectal	.001	7.2	2.3-22	.18
	Unknown primary	.007	7.8	1.8-34
Blood transfusion	Haematological	<.001	14	6.7-31	.27
Deterioration	Colorectal	.035	2.1	1.0-4.1	.06
Diagnostic procedure	___
Infection	Haematological	<.001	10	5.0-22	.19
Infusion	Haematological	.025	2.7	1.1-6.4	.07
	Stomach/oesophagus	.005	4.7	1.6-14
	Unknown primary	.032	3.4	1.1-10
Nausea	Stomach/oesophagus	.012	3.8	1.3-11	.13
Nutrition	Stomach/oesophagus	.001	15	3.1-68	.22
Pain	___
Radiotherapy	___
Social issues	___
Surgical stent	Pancreas	.001	4.9	1.9-13	.08

OR = Odds Ratios; CI = Confidence Interval.

α = Gender specific cancer sites not included.

Table V. Relationships between symptoms and care needs with cancer sites for men and women in 2007.

	Male (n=182)					Female (n=146)
Symptoms and care needs	Cancer site	p-value	OR	95% CI	Nagelkerke R-Square	Cancer site	p-value	OR	95% CI	Nagelkerke R-Square
Abdominal surgery	Unknown primary	.004	36	3.2-422	.26	Colorectal	.002	17	2.9-95	.28
						Gynaecological	.006	13	2.0-85
Blood transfusion	Haematological	<.001	25	8.0-70	.35	Haematological	<.001	12	3.6-42	.24
	Stomach/oesophagus	.008	8.3	1.8-40
Deterioration	Colorectal	.047	2.0	1.0-3.9	.16	___
	Pancreas	.003	9.4	2.2-41
	Lung	.002	4.4	1.7-11
Diagnostic procedure	Prostate	.043	2.2	1.0-4.9	.08	Unknown primary	.013	4.4	1.4-14	.11
Infection	Haematological	<.001	13	4.8-36	.24	Haematological	<.001	7.8	2.5-25	.19
Infusion	Haematological	.001	6.5	2.0-21	.17	___
	Stomach/oesophagus	.014	7.0	1.5-33
Nausea	Stomach/oesophagus	<.001	17	3.7-79	.19	___
Nutrition	___					Stomach/oesophagus	.004	19	3.2-111	.37
Pain	Prostate	.007	2.8	1.3-5.9	.14	___
Radiotherapy	___					Breast	.017	5.1	1.3-20	.22
						Lung	.003	8.8	1.8-37
						Stomach/oesophagus	.009	10	1.8-58
Social issues	___					Breast	.016	3.9	1.3-12	.09
Surgical stent	___					Pancreas	.004	6.9	1.9-26	.13

OR = Odds Ratios; CI = Confidence Interval.