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A comparison of symptoms in older hospitalised cancer and non-cancer patients in need of palliative care: a secondary analysis of two cross-sectional studies

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BackgroundEvidence on the differences in symptom patterns between older palliative cancer and non-cancer patients is lacking. The purpose of the study was to determine the differences in symptoms between older… Click to show full abstract

BackgroundEvidence on the differences in symptom patterns between older palliative cancer and non-cancer patients is lacking. The purpose of the study was to determine the differences in symptoms between older hospitalised palliative cancer and non-cancer patients.MethodsA secondary analysis of two multi-centre cross-sectional studies was performed. A validated instrument was used to assess the frequency and intensity of 40 symptoms in older hospitalised palliative cancer patients (nā€‰=ā€‰100) and older palliative non-cancer patients (nā€‰=ā€‰100). The data were collected between March 2013 and June 2015. Differences between groups were measured statistically.ResultsOverall, similarities in symptom patterns were observed between cancer and non-cancer patients. Some minor differences were detected between the groups. Non-cancer patients experienced significantly more physical symptoms and functional dependence than cancer patients. Patients with cancer experienced higher levels of frequency and intensity of psychological symptoms compared to non-cancer patients.ConclusionsHealthcare professionals should be aware of the high occurrence of symptoms in both cancer and non-cancer patients, and they should be educated about the systematic assessment of symptoms in multiple domains by accounting for the occurrence of generic symptoms and disease-specific symptoms.

Keywords: cancer non; non cancer; cancer; cancer patients; symptoms older

Journal Title: BMC Geriatrics
Year Published: 2018

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