Correlation between physical symptoms and overall comfort in hospitalized cancer patients in palliative care.
Ana Luísa Teixeira da Costa Durante, Lívia Costa de Oliveira, Andrea Dos Santos Garcia and 3 others
PMID 42407084WHAT IT FOUND
Higher symptom scores were linked to lower comfort in hospitalized cancer patients receiving palliative care.
Pain, fatigue, anxiety, depression, appetite and well-being all tracked inversely; breathlessness did not.
Key findings
01Among 155 hospitalized cancer patients receiving palliative care, total symptom burden was inversely correlated with overall comfort (r = -0.614, p < 0.001).
02Higher scores for pain, tiredness, nausea, depression, anxiety, drowsiness, loss of appetite, and the feeling-of-well-being item were significantly linked to lower comfort; dyspnea was not.
03Physical comfort was the lowest comfort domain (mean 20.50, SD 6.24), and psychospiritual comfort was the highest (mean 50.84, SD 8.0).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The design measured symptoms and comfort at one time, so it cannot show that symptoms caused lower comfort. The sample came from one hospital and was not randomly selected, so results may not apply to other settings. Only patients who could respond were included, excluding those with unstable conditions, significant cognitive impairment, or palliative sedation. The comfort instrument was applied once, so changes over time were not assessed.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these correlations as proof that treating one symptom will raise comfort. This was a one-time observational study in one hospital, and it did not test an intervention.