Table 1. Characteristics of HIV+ patients in 4 South-African palliative care facilities (N = 177) and in one palliative care facility in Uganda (N = 47).
| Characteristics | South-Africa | Uganda | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place of receiving palliative care | At home | 70* | 53* | ||
| Outpatient | - | 38* | |||
| Inpatient | 25* | - | |||
| Day care | 5* | 9* | |||
| Age (mean; S.D.) | 36.3; 8.8 | 36.8; 10.0 | |||
| Sex: female (%) | 77 † | 60 † | |||
| On ART (%) | 48 | 53 | |||
| Functional status: limited self-care/ completely disabled (%) | 32 † | 23 † | |||
| MSAS-SF symptoms and prevalence of symptoms: | Difficulty concentrating: 33* | Mouth sores: 17 | Difficulty concentrating: 64* | Mouth sores: 23 | |
| Pain: 80 † | Problems with sexual interest/ activity: 31* | Pain: 94 † | Problems with sexual interest/ activity: 11* | ||
| Lack of energy: 71 | Itching: 56 | Lack of energy: 75 | Itching: 70 | ||
| Cough: 60 | Lack of appetite: 41 | Cough: 49 | Lack of appetite: 41 ‡ | ||
| Changes in skin: 51 ‡ | Dizziness: 47 † | Changes in skin: 64 | Dizziness: 64 † | ||
| Dry mouth: 64 ‡ | Difficulty swallowing: 18 | Dry mouth: 51 | Difficulty swallowing: 23 | ||
| Nausea: 39 | Changes in way food tastes: 28 | Nausea: 38 | Changes in way food tastes: 36 § | ||
| Feeling drowsy/ tired: 75 | Weight loss: 60 | Feeling drowsy/ tired: 72 | Weight loss: 62 | ||
| Numbness/ tingling in hands or feet: 66 | Hair loss: 25 ‡ | Numbness/ tingling in hands or feet: 72 | Hair loss: 26 | ||
| Difficulty sleeping: 50 | Constipation: 32 | Difficulty sleeping: 47 | Constipation: 34 | ||
| Feeling bloated: 35 | Swelling of arms or legs: 27 | Feeling bloated: 38 | Swelling of arms or legs: 39 ‡ | ||
| Problems urinating: 34 | “I don’t look myself”: 63* | Problems urinating: 30 | “I don’t look myself”: 40* | ||
| Vomiting: 20 | Feeling sad: 76 | Vomiting: 28 | Feeling sad: 72 | ||
| Shortness of breath: 40 | Worrying: 75 ‡ | Shortness of breath: 26 | Worrying: 66 | ||
| Diarrhoea: 24 | Feeling irritable: 74 † | Diarrhoea: 26 | Feeling irritable: 54 ‡ † | ||
| Sweats: 55 | Feeling nervous: 51 | Sweats:60 | Feeling nervous: 36 | ||
| Level of symptom distress: (mean; S.D) | PSYCH | 1.6; 0.9 ‡ | 1.3; 0.9 ‡ | ||
| PHYS | 1.5; 0.8 § * | 1.3; 0.7 § * | |||
| GDI | 1.8; 0.8 ǁ * | 1.4; 0.7 § * | |||
Abbreviations: MSAS-SF = Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale-Short Form ART = Antiretroviral Therapy PSYCH = Psychological Symptom Subscale score PHYS = Physical Symptom Subscale score GDI = Global Distress Index score S.D. = Standard Deviation
*Significant at 0.001 level
†Significant at 0.05 level
‡Missing value = 1
§Missing value = 2
ǁ Missing value = 3