Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the study sample.
| Total patient sample n = 80 | None/mild global symptom burden n = 61 (76%) | Moderate/severe global symptom burden n = 19 (24%) | p Value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD) Age (year) | 71 (13) | 72 (12) | 71(15) | .782 | |
| Sex (male) n (%) | 56 (70) | 44 (72) | 12 (63) | .568 | |
| Marital status (married) n (%) | 54 (68) | 40 (66) | 14 (74) | .585 | |
| Dialysis vintage | 3–18 months n (%) | 29 (36) | 21 (34) | 8 (42) | .405 |
| 18–36 months n (%) | 22 (28) | 19 (32) | 3 (16) | ||
| 36+ months n (%) | 29 (36) | 21 (34) | 8 (42) | ||
| Median (IQR) number of medical comorbidities | 7 (5–8) | 7 (5–8) | 8 (4–10) | .62 | |
| Diabetes mellitus n (%) | 45(56) | 34 (56) | 11 (58) | 1 | |
| Hypertension n (%) | 68 (85) | 51 (84) | 17 (89) | .721 | |
| Mean (SD) serum albumin (g/L) | 39 (3) | 39 (3) | 38 (3) | .051 | |
| Mean (SD) hemoglobin (g/L) | 104 (10) | 104 (11) | 104 (9) | .735 | |
| Edmonton symptom distress | |||||
| Total n (%) Moderate/severe global symptom burden (global symptom burden score >30) | 19 (24) | ||||
| Median (IQR) global symptom burden score | 16 (5–29) | 10 (5–19) | 43 (40–45) | <.001 | |
| Moderate/severe physical symptom burden n (%) (physical symptom burden score ≥19) | 21 (26) | 4 (5) | 17 (21) | <.001 | |
| Median (IQR) physical symptom burden score | 11 (5–20) | 8 (4–13) | 26 (21–30) | <.001 | |
| Moderate/severe emotional symptom burden n (%) (emotional symptom burden score ≥7) | 22 (28) | 6 (8) | 16 (20) | <.001 | |
| Median (IQR) emotional symptom burden score | 0 (0–7) | 0 (0–1) | 13 (8–16) | <.001 | |
| Median (IQR) prevalence of moderate/severe individual symptoms | 2 (0–4) | 1 (0–3) | 6 (6–7) | <.001 | |
SD: standard deviation; IQR: interquartile range; ESASr: Edmonton Symptom Assessment System-revised.