. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2018 Jun 7.

Published in final edited form as: J Pain Symptom Manage. 2018 Feb 17;55(6):1591–1598.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2018.02.005

Table 3.

Patient Physical Signs and Symptoms of Patients in the ICU in the Last Week of Life

Cluster	Sign/Symptom	N	n	%	Association With Suffering			Adjusting for Pain			Association With Loss of Dignity

					N	OR	P	N	AOR	P	N	OR	P
Cardiopulmonary and painful conditions	Trouble breathing	193	85	44.0	187	5.43	0.000	181	3.94	0.000	170	2.36	0.016
	Edema	191	80	41.9	185	5.31	0.000	179	4.07	0.000	168	3.47	0.000
	Physical pain	190	63	33.2	185	3.89	0.000				168	3.40	0.001
	Painful broken skin	189	43	22.8	183	4.09	0.000	177	2.78	0.017	167	3.89	0.001
Gastrointestinal-related conditions	Thirst	153	47	30.7	150	3.32	0.002	148	3.20	0.003	139	1.23	0.677
	Hunger	157	28	17.8	154	4.28	0.000	151	3.16	0.001	142	1.72	0.240
	Nausea and/or vomiting	189	16	8.5	184	3.59	0.029	177	2.76	0.143	166	1.55	0.526
Incontinence-related conditions	Fecal incontinence	190	55	28.9	184	2.92	0.000	178	2.13	0.014	167	5.58	0.000
	Constipation and/or diarrhea	187	39	20.9	182	2.91	0.001	177	1.85	0.101	165	4.10	0.001
	Urinary incontinence	190	18	9.5	184	3.21	0.007	178	2.08	0.087	168	3.39	0.005
Muscular and temperature dysregulation	Loss of control of limbs	183	66	36.1	177	3.41	0.000	172	3.35	0.001	161	5.10	0.000
Muscular and temperature dysregulation	Fever or chills	187	29	15.5	182	4.30	0.001	177	4.33	0.002	164	2.34	0.019
Sleep disturbance and exhaustion	Fatigue	163	51	31.3	161	5.27	0.000	159	4.26	0.000	146	1.87	0.217
Sleep disturbance and exhaustion	Difficulty sleeping	172	31	18.0	168	2.49	0.040	165	2.17	0.091	155	0.83	0.735

ICU = intensive care unit; OR = odds ratio; AOR = adjusted odds ratio.

Indicators of severe symptoms, that is, rated 8, 9, or 10 on a 10-point scale.