Table 2. Demographic characteristics of the 50 lung cancer patients studied.
| Variable | Total | Subgroup | |||
| Mild symptoms | Moderate symptoms | Severe symptoms | |||
| n (%) | 50 (100) | 30 (60) | 14 (28) | 6 (12) | |
| Age (years) mean (SD) | 61.3 (10.1) | 60.5 (11.7) | 63.4 (10.7) | 61.9 (10.9) | |
| Male gender, n (%) | 34 (68) | 22 (73.3) | 9 (64.3) | 3 (50) | |
| Smoking history | |||||
| Former smoker, n (%) | 42 (84) | 25 (83.3) | 11 (78.6) | 6 (100) | |
| Never smoker, n (%) | 8 (16) | 5 (16.7) | 3 (21.4) | 0 (0) | |
| Pack-years, mean (SD) | 44.2 (31.2) | 43.0 (29.9) | 42.4 (39.0) | 54.7 (15.1) | |
| Histological subtypes, n (%) | |||||
| SCLC | 5 (10.0) | 3 (10.0) | 1 (7.1) | 1 (16.7) | |
| NSCLC | 45 (90.0) | 27 (90.0) | 13 (92.9) | 5 (83.3) | |
| Karnofsky performance status, mean (SD) # | 91.4 (11.8) | 95 (9.4) | 90 (10.4) | 76.7 (15.1) | |
| Staging, n (%) § | |||||
| I-III | 39 (78.0) | 27 (90.0) | 10 (71.4) | 2 (33.3) | |
| IV | 11 (22.0) | 3 (10.0) | 4 (28.6) | 4 (66.7) | |
| MMSE score, mean (SD) | 27.4 (2.3) | 27.7 (2.2) | 27.6 (2.2) | 25.8 (2.3) | |
| Level of education, n (%) | |||||
| Illiterate | 1 (2) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (16.7) | |
| 9 years of schooling | 32 (64) | 17 (56.7) | 10 (71.4) | 5 (83.3) | |
| High school | 13 (26) | 11 (36.7) | 2 (14.3) | 0 (0) | |
| College | 4 (8) | 2 (6.7) | 2 (14.3) | 0 (0) |
NSCLC: : non-small cell lung cancer;
SCLC
: small cell lung cancer;
MMSE
: Mini-Mental State Examination.
#
ANOVA (with post hoc Bonferroni correction) revealed significant differences between the patients with severe symptoms and those with mild or moderate symptoms.
§
Pearson's chi-square test; p < 0.05.