The symptoms of advanced cancer: relationship to age, gender, and performance status in 1,000 patients

A multivariate analysis of the data was conducted to evaluate the effects o f age, gender, and performance status on symptom profile. A comprehensive p rospective analysis of symptoms was conducted in 1,000 patients on initial referral to the Palliative Medicine Program of the Cleveland Clinic. The me dian number of symptoms per patient was 11 (range 1-27). The ten most preva lent symptoms were pain, easy fatigue, weakness, anorexia, lack of energy, dry mouth, constipation, early satiety, dyspnea, and greater than 10% weigh t loss. The prevalence of these 10 symptoms ranged from 50% to 84%. Younger age was associated with 11 symptoms: blackout, vomiting, pain, nausea, hea dache, sedation, bloating, sleep problems, anxiety, depression, and constip ation. Gender was associated with 8 symptoms. Males had more dysphagia, hoa rseness, >10% weight loss and sleep problems; females, more early satiety, nausea, vomiting, and anxiety. Performance status was associated with 14 sy mptoms, Advanced cancer patients are polysymptomatic. Ten symptoms are high ly prevalent. Symptom prevalence for 24 individual symptoms differs with ag e, or gender, or performance status.