Characteristics of patients reporting symptoms by open-ended questions in specialist palliative care
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- Characteristics of patients reporting symptoms by open-ended questions in specialist palliative care
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INTRODUCTION Comprehensive symptom assessment may be achieved by combining patient-reported outcome instruments with open-ended questions. The open-ended "Write In three Symptoms/Problems" (WISP) instrument allows patients to report symptoms and problems (S/Ps) not covered by the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL. This study investigated whether sociodemographic or clinical variables were associated with the reporting of additional S/Ps on WISP. METHODS Data from the Danish Palliative Care Database included all patients admitted to specialist palliative care in Denmark in 2016 who completed the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL. The associations between patient characteristics and the reporting of a) any additional symptom/problem and b) each of the ten most prevalent additional S/Ps (oedema, dizziness, cough, sweats, diarrhoea, dry mouth, incontinence, sore mouth, vomiting and dysphagia) were investigated using multiple logistic regression. RESULTS In total, 1,295 patients reported additional S/Ps on WISP. Reporting any additional symptom/problem was associated with having younger children and living with someone. The reporting of the most prevalent additional S/Ps was associated with cancer diagnosis, having younger children, living with someone and being an outpatient. CONCLUSIONS This study gives new insights into the characteristics of patients reporting S/Ps that are not assessed by standard measures. The results may assist clinicians in improving palliative care. FUNDING: The salary of the first author was financed by Becas Chile-CONICYT. TRIAL REGISTRATION not relevant.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 12200916 |
Journal | Danish Medical Journal |
Volume | 68 |
Issue number | 8 |
Number of pages | 10 |
ISSN | 1603-9629 |
Publication status | Published - 2021 |
- CANCER-PATIENTS
Research areas
ID: 280053590