TY - JOUR
T1 - Age, cancer site and gender associations with symptoms and problems in specialised palliative care
T2 - a large, nationwide, register-based study
AU - Hansen, Maiken Bang
AU - Ross, Lone
AU - Petersen, Morten Aagaard
AU - Groenvold, Mogens
N1 - © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2022/7/1
Y1 - 2022/7/1
N2 - BACKGROUND: Patients referred to specialised palliative care are troubled by symptoms/problems, but more knowledge is needed on the level and frequency of symptoms/problems. It is also uncertain how gender, age and cancer diagnosis, respectively, are associated with symptoms/problems.AIMS: To describe symptoms/problems in patients with cancer at the start of specialised palliative care, and to study how age, gender and cancer diagnosis were associated with symptoms/problems.DESIGN: A register-based study including data from the Danish Palliative Care Database.SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Patients with cancer who reported their symptoms/problems using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionaire-Core-15-Palliative Care (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL) at the start of specialised palliative care were included. Ordinal logistic regression was performed to test if gender, age and cancer diagnosis were associated with each symptom/problem.RESULTS: 31 771 patients with cancer were included in the study. The most prevalent and severe symptoms/problems were pain, appetite loss, fatigue, poor physical function and poor quality of life. Gender, age and cancer diagnosis were significantly associated with most symptoms/problems. The strongest associations between symptoms/problems and gender and age, respectively, were increased risk of nausea in women, as well as increased risk of poor physical function and reduced risk of sleeplessness and pain with increasing age. Patients with brain/central nervous system cancer had the lowest risk of symptoms but the highest risk of poor physical function.CONCLUSION: At the start of specialised palliative care, patients with cancer experience severe levels of symptoms, poor physical function and poor quality of life. Age, gender and diagnosis were significantly associated with most symptoms/problems, but the strength and direction of the associations differed across symptoms/problems.
AB - BACKGROUND: Patients referred to specialised palliative care are troubled by symptoms/problems, but more knowledge is needed on the level and frequency of symptoms/problems. It is also uncertain how gender, age and cancer diagnosis, respectively, are associated with symptoms/problems.AIMS: To describe symptoms/problems in patients with cancer at the start of specialised palliative care, and to study how age, gender and cancer diagnosis were associated with symptoms/problems.DESIGN: A register-based study including data from the Danish Palliative Care Database.SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Patients with cancer who reported their symptoms/problems using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionaire-Core-15-Palliative Care (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL) at the start of specialised palliative care were included. Ordinal logistic regression was performed to test if gender, age and cancer diagnosis were associated with each symptom/problem.RESULTS: 31 771 patients with cancer were included in the study. The most prevalent and severe symptoms/problems were pain, appetite loss, fatigue, poor physical function and poor quality of life. Gender, age and cancer diagnosis were significantly associated with most symptoms/problems. The strongest associations between symptoms/problems and gender and age, respectively, were increased risk of nausea in women, as well as increased risk of poor physical function and reduced risk of sleeplessness and pain with increasing age. Patients with brain/central nervous system cancer had the lowest risk of symptoms but the highest risk of poor physical function.CONCLUSION: At the start of specialised palliative care, patients with cancer experience severe levels of symptoms, poor physical function and poor quality of life. Age, gender and diagnosis were significantly associated with most symptoms/problems, but the strength and direction of the associations differed across symptoms/problems.
KW - Female
KW - Hospice and Palliative Care Nursing
KW - Humans
KW - Neoplasms/epidemiology
KW - Pain
KW - Palliative Care
KW - Quality of Life
KW - Surveys and Questionnaires
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85072920473&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1136/bmjspcare-2019-001880
DO - 10.1136/bmjspcare-2019-001880
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 31563863
SN - 2045-435X
VL - 12
SP - e201-e210
JO - BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care
JF - BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care
IS - e2
ER -