Accuracy of a single measurement site for self-monitoring of patients with breast cancer at risk for lymphedema

Figures & data

Table 1. Patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics at baseline.

		Number of patients	Frequency %
Sexes	Female/male	50/1	98/2
Surgery	Dominant arm	25 (3 left, 22 right)	49
	Non-dominant arm	26 (3 left, 23 right)	51
	Mastectomy/lumpectomy	27/24	52.9/47.1
	ALND/SNB	16/44	31.4/68.3
Tumor grade	T0	1	2.0
	T1	4	7.8
	T2	27	49.0
	T3	19	39.2
Radiotherapy	Boost tumor bed	18	35.3
	Axillary/supraclavicular radiation	11	21.6

ALND = axillary lymph node dissection; SNB = sentinel node biopsy.

Table 2. Associations between percentage difference and centimeter difference of all measurement points and total arm measurement.

	Total volume	0 cm	10 cm	20 cm	30 cm	40 cm
Percentage difference
Totalvolume (cm)	1
0	0.28	1
10	0.74**	0.28**	1
20	0.72**	0.40**	0.52**	1
30	0.80**	0.20**	0.62**	0.49**	1
40	0.73**	0.12	0.56**	0.40**	0.66**	1
Centimeter difference
Totalvolume (cm)	1
0	0.67**	1
10	−0.04	0.01	1
20	0.71**	0.40**	0.02
30	0.45**	0.16*	0.03	0.29**	1
40	0.71**	0.11	−0.06	0.38**	0.33**	1

*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.

Figure 1. Scatterplot of percentage difference of total arm volume and percentage difference at the 30-cm measurement site.

Table 3. Circumference measurements with tape measured with 10-cm distance intervals and circumference measurements of the 30-cm location, calculated as percentage difference between affected and unaffected upper extremity, at baseline before chemotherapy (T0), during chemotherapy before the second (T1) and fourth cycles (T2), and one month after completion of chemotherapy (T3).

	Total arm volume		30-cm Location
	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
T0	2.33	5.50	1.31	3.27
T1	2.30	4.97	1.29	3.36
T2	2.75	5.19	1.71	3.13
T3	5.14*	10.12	2.99**	6.05

SD = standard deviation.

*p < 0.05 compared to T0; **p < 0.05 compared to T1.

Table 4. Area under the curve (AUC) for percentage difference of a single measurement location at 30 cm proximal of the styloid process and feelings of heaviness and swelling compared to total volume, calculated with 10-cm intervals.

	Tape measurement 10-cm interval
Measurement location	AUC (95% CI)	p-Value
30 cm	0.94 (0.90−0.99)	<0.001
Heaviness	0.78 (0.68−0.88)	<0.001
Swelling	0.82 (0.71−0.93)	<0.001

Figure 2. ROC curves of percentage difference between both arms at the 30-cm measurement location and heaviness and swelling in relation to lymphedema, defined as ≥10% volume difference between both arms, measured by tape with the 10-cm interval circumference measurement method.