Table 5. Characteristics of the three cachexia groups.
| 0–1 Cachexia factors (n=299) | 2–3 Cachexia factors (n=1304) | 4 Cachexia factors (n=194) | P-values | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | |||||||
| Male | 153 | 51% | 688 | 53% | 88 | 45% | 0.143 |
| Female | 146 | 49% | 616 | 47% | 106 | 55% | |
| Age | 61 (25–88) | 63 (18–91) | 62 (19–91) | 0.589 | |||
| Body mass index | 25 (17–45) | 24 (14–45) | 19 (9–20) | <0.0001 | |||
| Department | |||||||
| Hospitalised | 178 | 59% | 1056 | 81% | 170 | 88% | <0.0001 |
| Outpatients | 121 | 41% | 248 | 19% | 24 | 12% | |
| Survival in days (95% CI) | 304 (246–362) | 103 (93–114) | 54 (40–68) | <0.0001 | |||
| Time since diagnosis in months (95% CI) | 25 (18–31) | 14 (12–16) | 15 (12–18) | <0.0001 | |||
| Karnofsky performance status | 80 (20–100) | 60 (20–100) | 50 (20–70) | <0.0001 | |||
| Tumour diagnosis | |||||||
| Urologic | 20 | 7% | 91 | 7% | 14 | 7% | |
| Lung | 35 | 12% | 239 | 18% | 32 | 17% | |
| Breast | 67 | 22% | 170 | 13% | 21 | 11% | |
| Prostate | 52 | 17% | 145 | 11% | 11 | 6% | |
| Gastrointestinal | 44 | 15% | 272 | 21% | 54 | 28% | |
| Pancreas | 0 | 0% | 26 | 2% | 9 | 5% | |
| Female reproductive organs | 14 | 5% | 109 | 8% | 16 | 8% | |
| Head and neck | 13 | 4% | 70 | 5% | 17 | 9% | |
| Haematological | 21 | 7% | 67 | 5% | 6 | 3% | |
| Unknown origin | 10 | 3% | 36 | 3% | 4 | 2% | |
| Sarcoma | 6 | 2% | 35 | 3% | 7 | 4% | |
| Skin | 1 | 0% | 30 | 2% | 5 | 3% | |
| Others | 25 | 8% | 66 | 5% | 8 | 4% | |
| Metastasis a | |||||||
| Liver | 59 | 20% | 319 | 24% | 65 | 34% | |
| Bone | 163 | 55% | 589 | 45% | 68 | 35% | |
| CNS | 15 | 5% | 70 | 5% | 14 | 7% | |
| Lung | 49 | 16% | 290 | 22% | 59 | 30% | |
| Other | 88 | 29% | 520 | 40% | 105 | 54% | |
| None | 56 | 19% | 211 | 16% | 27 | 14% | |
| Medication last 24 h | |||||||
| Chemotherapy | 61 | 20% | 186 | 14% | 24 | 13% | 0.023 |
| Steroids | 145 | 49% | 634 | 49% | 887 | 46% | 0.764 |
| Antibiotics | 44 | 15% | 290 | 22% | 40 | 21% | 0.011 |
| Biochemical parameters (mean and 95% CI) | |||||||
| Hb (μ mol l–1) | 11.9 (11.7–12.1) | 11.4 (11.3–11.5) | 10.8 (10.6–11.1) | <0.0001 | |||
| Albumin (g l–1) | 36 (35–37) | 32 (31–32) | 29 (28–30) | <0.0001 | |||
| CRP (g l–1) | 12 (8–16) | 58 (55–61) | 78 (67–86) | <0.0001 | |||
Abbreviations: CI=confidence interval; CNS=central nervous system; CRP=C-reactive protein; Hb=haemoglobin.
All numbers are absolute numbers or medians (range) if nothing else is indicated.
a
Many patients can have more than one metastasis site.