Table 4.
Symptom severity, body mass index, and changes one to four months post-thoracotomy for lung cancer
| Time 1 (one month) | Time 2 (two-months) | Time 3 (four-months) | % Change from T1 – T3 | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lung Cancer Symptom Scale* | Mean ± SD | Mean ± SD | Mean ± SD | ||
| Overall | 274.3 (138.8) | 224.7 (141.1) | 197.6(153.7) | −28.0 | <0.0001 |
| 1st six symptoms | 184.7 (87.9) | 151.8 (90.5) | 130.9 (98.2) | −28.8 | <0.0001 |
| Fatigue | 47.6 (25.9) | 42.2 (28.5) | 38.4 (28.5) | −19.3 | 0.009 |
| Appetite | 40.1 (30.3) | 25.6 (27.4) | 18.6 (22.3) | −53.6 | <0.0001 |
| Shortness of breath | 39.9 (26.9) | 33.6 (25.6) | 31.1 (26.3) | −22.1 | 0.002 |
| Pain | 30.5 (26.2) | 20.9 (24.8) | 16.9 (22.1) | −43.5 | <0.0001 |
| Cough | 24.7 (25.5) | 27.3 (27.9) | 23.3 (25.6) | −5.7 | 0.52 |
| Hemoptysis | 1.4 (2.2) | 1.2 (2.01) | 2.8 (11.2) | +1.0 | 0.22 |
| How bad are symptoms | 19.5 (24.1) | 18.9 (22.4) | 17.0 (22.2) | −12.8 | 0.20 |
| BPI | |||||
| Severity | 11.4 (8.5) | 7.6 (7.6) | 7.2 (7.4) | −36.8 | <0.0001 |
| Interference | 21.8 (19.6) | 13.6 (15.6) | 10.5 (15.1) | −51.8 | <0.0001 |
| Dyspnea Index | 1.5 (1.2) | 1.3 (1.0) | 1.3 (1.1) | −0.13 | 0.09 |
| Fatigue (SCFS-6) | 12.4 (5.7) | 11.1 (5.7) | 11.1 (5.7) | −10.5 | 0.01 |
| CES-D | 13.4 (11.5) | 11.1 (10.4) | 11.1 (10.4) | −17.2 | 0.008 |
| BMI | |||||
| <18.5 | 7 (7.78) | 8 (8.79) | 8 (9.52) | +1.7 | 0.92 |
| 18.5–24.9 | 32 (35.6) | 33 (36.3) | 30 (35.7) | +0.15 | 0.91 |
| 25–29.9 | 35 (38.9) | 34 (37.4) | 31 (36.9) | −1.99 | 0.26 |
| >30 | 16 (17.8) | 16 (17.6) | 15 (17.9) | +0.08 | 0.36 |
*
All values are mean (SD) of the scores on that measure. Higher scores indicate more severe problems
†
P-values calculated using adjusted repeated measures analysis (time, health status, treatment, and demographic characteristics)
BPI = Brief Pain Index, SCFS-6 = Schwartz Cancer Fatigue Scale, CES-D = Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression, BMI = body mass index