Table 1.
Comparison of demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with upper limb lymphedema and healthy subjects
| Lymphedema Group (n = 36) Mean ± SD Median (min-max) n (%) |
Healthy Group (n = 30) Mean ± SD Median (min-max) n (%) |
p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic Characteristics | |||
| Age (years) | 58.58 ± 9.11 | 55.66 ± 6.14 | 0.127a |
| Height (cm) | 158.13 ± 7.41 | 161.06 ± 5.00 | 0.070a |
| Weight (kg) | 73.50 ± 11.62 | 71.06 ± 7.31 | 0.324a |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 29.53 ± 5.06 | 27.51 ± 2.83 | 0.057a |
| Marriage status (married) | 26 (72.2) | 18 (60.0) | 0.294b |
| Working status (working) | 4 (11.1) | 11 (36.7) | 0.014b* |
| Assessed UL (Dominant) | 18 (50.0) | 15(50.0) | > 0.999b* |
| Chronic disease (yes) | 17 (47.2) | 0 (0.0) | < 0.001b** |
| Family history of cancer (yes) | 20 (55.6) | 2 (6.7) | < 0.001b** |
| Smoking (yes) | 2 (5.6) | 5 (16.7) | 0.231c |
| Exercise habit (yes) | 7 (19.4) | 7 (23.3) | 0.700b |
| Disease-Related Characteristics | |||
| Time since surgery (years) 5.60 ± 3.51 | |||
| With lymphedema arm (right) | 16 (44.4) | ||
|
Lymphedema stage (ISL) Mild Moderate Severe |
10 (27.8) 13 (36.1) 13 (36.1) |
||
| Duration of lymphedema (months) | 60.0 (2.00-288.00) | ||
| Treatment | |||
|
Surgical (yes) Lumpectomy (yes) Modified radical mastectomy (yes) Axillar dissection (yes) |
36 (100.0) 14 (38.9) 22 (61.1) 36 (100.0) |
||
| CT (yes) | 36 (100.0) | ||
| RT (yes) | 36 (100.0) | ||
SD: standard deviation, min: minimum, max: maximum, n: number, BMI: body mass index, cm: centimeter, kg: kilogram, m: meter, UL: Upper Limb, ISL: International Society of Lymphology, CT: chemotherapy, RT: radiotherapy, a: Student’s t-test, b: Chi-square test, c: Fisher’s exact test *: p < 0.05, **p < 0.001