Prevalence and severity of symptoms in terminal cancer patients: a study in Taiwan

This paper reports a prospective study conducted between September 1997 and July 1998 in 232 consecutive patients with terminal cancer. A structured d ata collection form was used daily to evaluate symptoms, which were analyze d at the time of admission, 1 week after admission and 48 h before death. T erminal cancer patients in this study were polysymptomatic. There were no s tatistically significant differences in the prevalence of most symptoms wit h the primary site of cancer. The majority of symptoms improved at the end of the Ist week after admission, but many symptoms worsened just before dea th. The high prevalence of symptoms and lack of significant difference amon g primary tumor sites may be related to shorter survival times caused by la te referral, which is common in Taiwan.