Table 5.
Symptoms in the First 3 Years by Degree of Lymphedema: Presence and Average Frequency, Severity, and Distress Among the 433 Respondents With 3 Full Years of Follow-Up
| Symptom | Moderate/Severe
|
Mild
|
No Current Lymphedema
|
No Lymphedema Ever
|
||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Presence
|
Average Score*
|
Presence
|
Average Score*
|
Presence
|
Average Score*
|
Presence
|
Average Score*
|
|||||||||||||
| No. of Person-Months | % of Person-Months With Symptom | Frequency† | Severity‡ | Distress§ | No. of Person-Months | % of Person-Months With Symptom | Frequency† | Severity‡ | Distress§ | No. of Person-Months | % of Person-Months With Symptom | Frequency† | Severity‡ | Distress§ | No. of Person-Months | % of Person-Months With Symptom | Frequency† | Severity‡ | Distress§ | |
| All 3-year completers | 852 | 1,764 | 2,784 | 10,188 | ||||||||||||||||
| Jewelry too tight | 682 | 80.0 | 3.50 | 2.66 | 2.78 | 777 | 44.0 | 2.92 | 1.95 | 1.42 | 762 | 27.4 | 2.47 | 1.82 | 1.30 | 678 | 6.7 | 2.16 | 1.69 | 1.22 |
| Clothing too tight | 488 | 57.3 | 3.00 | 2.49 | 2.78 | 588 | 33.3 | 2.83 | 1.89 | 1.65 | 284 | 10.2 | 2.30 | 1.68 | 1.61 | 127 | 1.2 | 2.21 | 1.59 | 1.32 |
| One side was puffy | 748 | 87.8 | 3.37 | 2.63 | 2.62 | 1,032 | 58.5 | 2.74 | 1.75 | 1.39 | 589 | 21.2 | 2.51 | 1.77 | 1.59 | 297 | 2.9 | 2.07 | 1.70 | 1.40 |
| Could not see knuckles/veins | 474 | 55.6 | 3.35 | 2.90 | 2.83 | 252 | 14.3 | 2.65 | 2.13 | 1.57 | 146 | 5.2 | 2.73 | 2.35 | 2.31 | 21 | 0.2 | 2.81 | 2.52 | 1.52 |
| Skin felt different | 481 | 56.5 | 3.34 | 2.67 | 2.32 | 504 | 28.6 | 2.74 | 2.10 | 1.82 | 369 | 13.3 | 2.65 | 2.08 | 1.80 | 326 | 3.2 | 2.50 | 1.89 | 1.39 |
| Skin felt tired/thick/heavy | 692 | 81.2 | 3.12 | 2.67 | 2.69 | 857 | 48.6 | 2.55 | 2.09 | 1.96 | 858 | 30.8 | 2.67 | 2.10 | 1.94 | 1,140 | 11.2 | 2.20 | 1.83 | 1.70 |
| Pain | 568 | 66.7 | 2.86 | 2.70 | 2.89 | 700 | 39.7 | 2.52 | 2.14 | 2.08 | 872 | 31.3 | 2.47 | 2.05 | 1.92 | 1,542 | 15.1 | 2.35 | 1.95 | 1.83 |
| Indentations in skin | 608 | 71.4 | 3.09 | 2.60 | 2.18 | 354 | 20.1 | 2.60 | 1.89 | 1.48 | 260 | 9.3 | 2.40 | 1.99 | 1.87 | 178 | 1.7 | 1.87 | 1.58 | 1.06 |
| Swelled after exercise | 392 | 46.0 | 3.03 | 2.55 | 2.34 | 274 | 15.5 | 2.54 | 2.09 | 1.96 | 234 | 8.4 | 2.34 | 1.84 | 2.01 | 156 | 1.5 | 2.08 | 1.57 | 1.47 |
| Difficulty writing | 187 | 21.9 | 2.77 | 2.68 | 2.91 | 190 | 10.8 | 2.50 | 2.17 | 2.39 | 289 | 10.4 | 2.70 | 2.10 | 2.31 | 479 | 4.7 | 2.79 | 2.09 | 2.01 |
| Any symptoms | 852 | 100.0 | 1,485 | 84.2 | 1,718 | 61.7 | 2,772 | 27.2 | ||||||||||||
| % of months with symptoms | ||||||||||||||||||||
| No symptoms | 0.0 | 15.8 | 38.3 | 72.8 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1-2 symptoms | 5.8 | 29.9 | 35.7 | 22.0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3-4 symptoms | 17.6 | 24.0 | 14.1 | 4.1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5+ symptoms | 76.6 | 30.3 | 12.0 | 1.1 | ||||||||||||||||
*
Average calculated only with those person-months in which symptom was present.
†
Frequency: 1 = rarely, 2 = occasionally, 3 = frequently, and 4 = almost constantly.
‡
Severity: 1 = slight, 2 = moderate, 3 = severe, and 4 = very severe.
§
Distress: 0 = none, 1 = a little bit, 2 = somewhat, 3 = quite a bit, and 4 = very much.