Symptom distress and factors related to symptom distress in advanced cancer patient at Lopburi Cancer Hospital

Abstract

A cross-sectional study with retrospective data collection. Objective: To study the characteristics of disturbing symptoms and factors associated with disturbing symptoms in patients with advanced cancer. The sample consisted of 360 patients with advanced cancer of seven types, including lung, colon, breast, cervical, head and neck, liver and biliary tract, who received care at Lopburi Cancer Hospital between February 1, 2022-February 28, 2023. Patient medical records were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests. The results showed that the sample was diagnosed with advanced cancer, classified by organ as follows: lung: 32.4%, breast: 22.2%, head and neck cancer: 15.3%, colon: 12.2%, liver: 7.0%, cervix: 6.5% and biliary tract: 4.4%. The five most common disturbing symptoms in patients with advanced cancer were pain 84%, fatigue 73%, discomfort 68%, shortness of breath 55% and anxiety 48%. The three most associated factors with disturbing symptoms were location of metastasis, method of disturbing symptom management, and palliative performance scale. Specifically, 1. Breast cancer that metastasized to bone and breast cancer that did not metastasize to brain were associated with pain P=0.001, P=0.009, respectively; breast cancer that metastasized to bone was associated with fatigue P=0.042 and breast cancer that did not metastasize to brain was associated with discomfort P=0.046. 2. The method of disturbing symptom management was associated with fatigue and discomfort P=0.001. 3. Palliative performance scale was associated with pain, fatigue, and discomfort P=0.002, P=0.016, P=0.043, respectively. The three most important disturbing symptoms in patients with advanced cancer were pain, fatigue, and discomfort. The factors associated with disturbing symptoms were location of metastasis, method of disturbing symptom management, and palliative performance scale. Further studies are needed to explore the management of pain, fatigue, discomfort, shortness of breath, and anxiety in the future.