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Table 2 Number of Symptoms per Patient (N = 200)

From: A comparison of symptoms in older hospitalised cancer and non-cancer patients in need of palliative care: a secondary analysis of two cross-sectional studies

 

Total sample (N = 200)

Cancer patients (N = 100)

Non-cancer patients (N = 100)

t

df

p-value

 

Mean (SD)

Mean (SD)

Mean (SD)

All symptomsa

17.28 (5.05)

16.32 (4.80)

18.23 (5.13)

2.72

198

0.007

Physical symptomsa

9.14 (3.22)

8.58 (3.05)

9.70 (3.30)

2.49

198

0.013

Psychological symptomsa

3.70 (2.48)

3.73 (2.47)

3.66 (2.44)

−0.20

198

0.840

Functional dependenceb

169 (84.5)

79 (79.0)

90 (90.0)

4.62

1

0.032

  1. aThe maximal number of symptoms was 40. The maximal number of physical symptoms was 24. The maximal number of psychological symptoms was 10. bFunctional dependence defined as experiencing difficulties on at least one functional item (self-care, moving inside, and moving outside) was a dichotomous variable. Therefore numbers with percentages instead of means with SD are reported. The difference between groups was assessed using the Chi-square test