Table 2 Difficult to treat cancer-related symptoms identified by physicians
Symptoms | All physicians (n = 311) | Palliative care teams (n = 226) | PCUs (n = 79) | p-value | Specialists (n = 128) | Non-specialists (n = 183) | p-value | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
frequency | % | frequency | % | frequency | % | frequency | % | frequency | % | |||
Numbness/Hypesthesia | 240 | 77.2 | 180 | 79.6 | 55 | 69.6 | 0.165 | 99 | 77.3 | 141 | 77.0 | 1.000 |
Languor/Fatigue | 225 | 72.3 | 161 | 71.2 | 61 | 77.2 | 0.276 | 99 | 77.3 | 126 | 68.9 | 0.122 |
Delirium | 170 | 54.7 | 119 | 52.7 | 48 | 60.8 | 0.447 | 73 | 57.0 | 97 | 53.0 | 0.490 |
Taste alteration | 166 | 53.4 | 124 | 54.9 | 42 | 53.2 | 0.029 | 77 | 60.2 | 89 | 48.6 | 0.050 |
Edema (Local edema/Anasarca) | 150 | 48.2 | 109 | 48.2 | 39 | 49.4 | 0.821 | 59 | 46.1 | 91 | 49.7 | 0.565 |
Pain | 146 | 46.9 | 113 | 50.0 | 31 | 39.2 | 0.226 | 55 | 43.0 | 91 | 49.7 | 0.250 |
Anorexia/Weight loss | 140 | 45.0 | 109 | 48.2 | 30 | 38.0 | 0.108 | 64 | 50.0 | 76 | 41.5 | 0.165 |
Abdominal discomfort | 131 | 42.1 | 98 | 43.4 | 31 | 39.2 | 0.735 | 55 | 43.0 | 76 | 41.5 | 0.816 |
Stomatitis/Xerostomia | 122 | 39.2 | 89 | 39.4 | 33 | 41.8 | 0.141 | 54 | 42.2 | 68 | 37.2 | 0.409 |
Depression | 116 | 37.3 | 86 | 38.1 | 30 | 38.0 | 0.175 | 41 | 32.0 | 75 | 41.0 | 0.122 |
Adjustment disorder | 113 | 36.3 | 73 | 32.3 | 39 | 49.4 | 0.014 | 47 | 36.7 | 66 | 36.1 | 1.000 |
Dyspnea/Breathlessness | 113 | 36.3 | 77 | 34.1 | 35 | 44.3 | 0.162 | 48 | 37.5 | 65 | 35.5 | 0.811 |
Nausea/Vomiting (other) | 101 | 32.5 | 75 | 33.2 | 24 | 30.4 | 0.893 | 38 | 29.7 | 63 | 34.4 | 0.392 |
Dysphagia/Deglutition disorder | 100 | 32.2 | 68 | 30.1 | 31 | 39.2 | 0.281 | 50 | 39.1 | 50 | 27.3 | 0.036 |
Sleep disorder/Insomnia | 93 | 29.9 | 69 | 30.5 | 23 | 29.1 | 0.796 | 42 | 32.8 | 51 | 27.9 | 0.379 |
Constipation (caused by opioid use) | 84 | 27.0 | 69 | 30.5 | 15 | 19.0 | 0.038 | 34 | 26.6 | 50 | 27.3 | 0.898 |
Nausea/Vomiting (during chemotherapy) | 76 | 24.4 | 71 | 31.4 | 5 | 6.3 | 0.000 | 27 | 21.1 | 49 | 26.8 | 0.284 |
Muscle weakness | 65 | 20.9 | 46 | 20.4 | 19 | 24.1 | 0.346 | 34 | 26.6 | 31 | 16.9 | 0.047 |
Nausea/Vomiting (caused by opioid use) | 61 | 19.6 | 51 | 22.6 | 10 | 12.7 | 0.690 | 24 | 18.8 | 37 | 20.2 | 0.774 |
Constipation (not caused by opioid use) | 59 | 19.0 | 47 | 20.8 | 11 | 13.9 | 0.377 | 28 | 21.9 | 31 | 16.9 | 0.305 |
Muscle cramp | 42 | 13.5 | 31 | 13.7 | 11 | 13.9 | 0.741 | 23 | 18.0 | 19 | 10.4 | 0.064 |
Diarrhea | 40 | 12.9 | 34 | 15.0 | 6 | 7.6 | 0.136 | 16 | 12.5 | 24 | 13.1 | 1.000 |
Anemia | 29 | 9.3 | 24 | 10.6 | 5 | 6.3 | 0.344 | 16 | 12.5 | 13 | 7.1 | 0.177 |
Others | 11 | 3.5 | 6 | 2.7 | 5 | 6.3 | 0.325 | 4 | 3.1 | 7 | 3.8 | 0.770 |