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Table 2 Differences in Symptom Occurrence, Severity, and Distress Between the Two Age Groups

From: Stability and consistency of symptom clusters in younger versus older patients receiving chemotherapy

Symptoma

Occurrenceb

Severityc

Distressd

Younger

55.2%

n = 741

Older

44.8%

n = 602

p-valuee

Younger

Older

p-valuef

Younger

Older

p-valuef

%

%

Mean

SD

Mean

SD

Mean

SD

Mean

SD

Lack of energy

84.5

81.6

0.162

2.02

0.73

2.02

0.72

0.872

1.77

1.16

1.81

1.12

0.613

Difficulty sleeping

72.6

64.8

0.002

2.07

0.80

1.92

0.69

0.010

1.82

1.15

1.73

1.04

0.329

Pain

63.3

56.9

0.021

1.95

0.75

1.88

0.69

0.312

1.84

1.15

1.68

1.02

0.099

Feeling drowsy

60.4

60.1

0.910

1.75

0.70

1.75

0.70

0.878

1.17

1.06

1.15

1.04

0.741

Hair loss

57.5

51.4

0.027

2.50

1.11

2.48

1.15

0.744

1.91

1.36

1.84

1.32

0.531

Difficulty concentrating

57.1

45.6

< 0.001

1.57

0.62

1.52

0.67

0.170

1.48

1.08

1.47

1.06

0.849

Worrying

57.0

46.1

< 0.001

1.87

0.79

1.81

0.66

0.682

1.63

1.12

1.62

0.93

0.729

Nausea

52.7

41.1

< 0.001

1.81

0.81

1.68

0.81

0.025

1.69

1.14

1.58

1.10

0.269

Feeling sad

51.4

39.6

< 0.001

1.76

0.74

1.62

0.63

0.029

1.56

1.10

1.40

0.98

0.136

Numbness/tingling in hands/feet

51.1

53.6

0.378

1.84

0.79

1.85

0.84

0.979

1.52

1.18

1.54

1.18

0.789

Change in the way food tastes

50.7

47.7

0.295

2.13

0.89

2.11

0.89

0.912

1.71

1.27

1.73

1.25

0.816

Feeling irritable

47.5

33.7

< 0.001

1.76

0.74

1.59

0.68

0.011

1.49

1.05

1.42

0.98

0.611

Dry mouth

45.2

45.6

0.912

1.73

0.75

1.74

0.76

0.876

1.18

1.12

1.28

1.12

0.189

Constipation

45.1

41.6

0.202

1.97

0.88

1.98

0.76

0.470

1.72

1.21

1.66

1.12

0.730

Lack of appetite

42.9

39.4

0.218

1.88

0.79

1.98

0.79

0.091

1.19

1.13

1.40

1.08

0.010

Hot flashes

42.2

19.2

< 0.001

1.93

0.78

1.71

0.85

0.002

1.52

1.16

1.17

1.14

0.006

Skin changes

41.9

29.4

< 0.001

1.90

0.83

1.92

0.78

0.641

1.63

1.20

1.66

1.17

0.686

Feeling nervous

41.8

33.4

0.002

1.65

0.71

1.55

0.62

0.188

1.43

1.03

1.38

0.90

0.860

“I don’t look like myself”

40.5

34.6

0.027

2.15

0.95

2.14

0.91

0.974

2.05

1.21

1.88

1.24

0.125

Sweats

39.0

21.7

< 0.001

1.78

0.79

1.77

0.75

0.993

1.32

1.12

1.21

1.01

0.508

Problems with sexual interest or activity

36.8

21.4

< 0.001

2.41

0.97

2.61

0.97

0.058

1.91

1.30

1.79

1.24

0.447

Feeling bloated

36.0

29.5

0.014

1.81

0.75

1.75

0.69

0.483

1.52

1.11

1.59

1.01

0.223

Dizziness

31.4

31.2

1.000

1.55

0.72

1.45

0.65

0.176

1.23

1.10

1.24

0.88

0.498

Cough

30.5

35.1

0.088

1.35

0.57

1.51

0.66

0.010

0.92

1.02

1.13

1.14

0.050

Diarrhea

30.3

28.7

0.546

1.89

0.86

1.83

0.76

0.714

1.41

1.16

1.53

1.08

0.233

Weight gain

27.8

22.4

0.027

1.61

0.76

1.54

0.60

0.887

1.42

1.34

1.29

1.30

0.399

Increased appetite

26.8

24.7

0.379

1.75

0.72

1.76

0.61

0.556

0.94

1.10

0.87

1.13

0.385

Shortness of breath

26.3

27.5

0.619

1.55

0.74

1.81

0.66

< 0.001

1.42

1.05

1.62

1.01

0.016

Itching

25.2

24.4

0.750

1.71

0.75

1.72

0.73

0.822

1.25

1.08

1.33

1.05

0.423

Weight loss

24.7

25.9

0.612

1.54

0.74

1.59

0.68

0.265

0.86

1.12

1.08

1.21

0.091

Abdominal cramps

24.1

20.5

0.129

1.96

0.80

1.73

0.65

0.022

1.63

1.11

1.58

1.05

0.662

Mouth sores

22.5

19.0

0.136

1.67

0.73

1.75

0.77

0.436

1.38

1.07

1.58

1.03

0.071

Difficulty breathing

19.5

20.5

0.630

1.54

0.70

1.76

0.74

0.010

1.57

1.15

1.70

1.09

0.257

Chest tightness

19.0

16.4

0.221

1.50

0.68

1.59

0.65

0.232

1.43

1.05

1.39

0.94

0.950

Difficulty swallowing

15.3

11.9

0.078

1.69

0.79

1.79

0.87

0.549

1.62

1.16

1.69

1.14

0.670

Vomiting

14.5

9.7

0.009

1.84

0.96

1.73

0.76

0.751

1.81

1.20

1.62

1.15

0.327

Swelling of arms or legs

12.9

16.7

0.051

1.88

0.86

1.95

0.81

0.406

1.61

1.16

1.63

1.17

0.888

Problems with urination

11.6

17.0

0.005

1.74

0.78

1.83

0.83

0.484

1.43

1.22

1.59

1.20

0.365

  1. Abbreviation: SD - standard deviation
  2. Symptom severity and distress scores are for those patients who reported the occurrence of the symptom
  3. aSymptoms are from the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale with the addition of the following six symptoms: chest tightness, difficulty breathing, increased appetite, hot flashes, abdominal cramps, and weight gain
  4. bSymptoms are listed in descending order of occurrence in reference to the younger group
  5. cSeverity ratings without zeros: 1 = slight, 2 = moderate, 3 = severe, 4 = very severe
  6. dDistress ratings: 0 = not at all, 1 = a little bit, 2 = somewhat, 3 = quite a bit, 4 = very much
  7. eResults using Fisher’s Exact test
  8. fResults using the Mann Whitney U test
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BMC Geriatrics

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