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• 12495

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  P3.07 - Poster Session 3 - Surgery (ID 193)

  • Event: WCLC 2013
  • Type: Poster Session
  • Track: Surgery
  • Presentations: 1
  • Moderators:
  • Coordinates: 10/30/2013, 09:30 - 16:30, Exhibit Hall, Ground Level

  • 12518

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    P3.07-023 - Changes in Symptom Occurrence Rates and Severity Ratings Before and Following Lung Cancer Surgery (ID 2005)

    09:30 - 09:30  |  Author(s): B. Cooper
    • Abstract

    Background
    Knowledge about symptoms is an important outcome to evaluate following lung cancer surgery because patients want information about the usual course of recovery of their physical and mental health. Patients need information at hospital discharge about when they need to contact their clinician if symptoms persist. Because to our knowledge only three studies have evaluated the occurrence of symptoms in patients prior to and following lung cancer surgery, the purpose of this study was to evaluate for changes in symptom occurrence ratings and severity scores from the preoperative period to 1 month after surgery using a multidimensional symptom assessment scale (i.e., Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS)).

    Methods
    Patients were recruited from three university hospitals in Norway. They completed a number of self-report questionnaires prior to and again at 1 month following surgery. The questionnaires provided information on demographic and clinical characteristics and symptoms. Patients’ medical records were reviewed for disease and treatment information. Descriptive statistics were used to present demographic and clinical characteristics. McNemar's test was used to evaluate for changes over time in symptom occurrence rates. Paired t-tests were done to evaluate for changes in severity scores for patients who reported severity scores either preoperatively, postoperatively, or on both occasions. Because the severity ratings were skewed, 1000 bootstrapped samples were taken for each analysis to provide unbiased estimates.

    Results
    The sample consisted of 129 (57%) men and 99 (43%) women who had a mean age of 65.8 years (SD=8.5, range 30 to 87). The total number of symptoms increased significantly from the preoperative ( =9.4, SD=7.2) to the postoperative ( =13.1, SD=6.8, p˂.001) assessment. Of the 11 symptoms that occurred in more than 50% of the patients at 1 month, 8 of them increased significantly from the preoperative to the postoperative period. Eight of the symptoms increased in both their occurrence rates and severity scores (i.e., lack of energy, pain, feeling bloated, lack of appetite, shortness of breath, feeling drowsy, dry mouth, sweats). Only one symptom had a significant reduction in its severity score, namely cough. Four symptoms were experienced by more than 80% of the patients at the 1 month assessment, namely: shortness of breath (85.5 %), lack of energy (83.8%), pain (83.8%), and feeling drowsy (82.5%).

    Conclusion
    Findings from this study suggest that patients experience a high number of symptoms after surgery. These findings can be used to educate patients about the normal course of postoperative recovery. In addition, clinicians need to assess for these symptoms and develop effective interventions to improve symptom management for this vulnerable group of patients.