Prevalence of symptoms and quality of life of cancer patients

this is a cross-sectional study with 107 patients evaluated using a sociodemographic instrument, the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) and the quality of life scale (EORTC-QLQ-C30). Pearson’s correlation test was used to evaluate the relationship between symptoms and quality of life.

Results:

prevalence of female patients (56.1%), 55 years as the mean age and 10 years of schooling. Fatigue (76.6%), insomnia (47.7%), pain (42.1%), loss of appetite (37.4%), anxiety (31.8%) and depression (21.5%) were identified. Anxiety and depression symptoms presented a negative correlation with quality of life and positive correlation with physical symptoms.

Conclusions:

fatigue, insomnia, pain and loss of appetite were the most common and most intense symptoms. Anxiety and depression symptoms presented a negative correlation with quality of life and positive correlation with physical symptoms.

Descriptors:
Oncology Nursing; Neoplasms; Signs and Symptoms; Symptoms Assessment; Quality of Life

Anxiety scale		Depression scale
HADS^* * HADS - Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale;		HADS^* * HADS - Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale;
Yes (score ≥ 8)	n = 34 (31.8%)	Yes (score ≥ 9)	n = 23 (21.5%)
No (score ≥ 8)	n = 73 (68.2%)	No (score < 9)	n = 84 (78.5%)
Mean (SD^† † SDStandard deviation. )	5.7 (3.9)	Mean (SD)	4.7 (3.7)

Scales	Mean	Standard deviation
General health status/QOL^† † QOL - quality of life.	71.0	23.7
Physical functioning	71.4	25.2
Paper performance	75.7	31.0
Emotional functioning	68.1	26.0
Cognitive functioning	78.4	26.0
Social functioning	73.7	32.1
Fatigue	29.2	27.8
Nausea and vomiting	13.1	24.6
Pain	22.0	32.7
Dyspnea	7.8	18.1
Insomnia	30.5	37.2
Loss of appetite	25.6	37.6
Constipation	17.1	31.8
Diarrhea	12.8	24.5
Financial difficulties	35.5	41.8

	HADS^† † HADS - Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Anxiety		HADS Depression
	(r)^ǂ ǂ (r) - Pearson's Correlation Coefficient,	p value	(r)	p value
General health status/QOL^§ § QV - Quality of Life.	-0.477	0.000	-0.504	0.000
Physical functioning	-0.331	0.001	-0.487	0.000
Role functioning	-0.411	0.000	-0.523	0.000
Emotional functioning	-0.699	0.000	-0.550	0.000
Cognitive functioning	-0.328	0.001	-0.372	0.000
Social functioning	-0.284	0.003	-0.349	0.000
Fatigue	0.408	0.000	0.488	0.000
Nausea and vomiting	0.123	0.208	0.372	0.000
Pain	0.298	0.002	0.351	0.000
Dyspnea	0.119	0.222	0.094	0.337
Insomnia	0.273	0.004	0.241	0.012
Loss of appetite	0.210	0.030	0.327	0.001
Constipation	0.216	0.025	0.327	0.001
Diarrhea	0.011	0.907	0.128	0.188
Financial difficulties	0.116	0.233	0.208	0.032

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[1] Corresponding Author: Marina de Góes Salvetti E-mail: mgsalvetti@usp.br