Llamas-Ramos Inés, Llamas-Ramos Rocío, Carrillo-González Gloria Mabel, Sepúlveda-Ramírez Jennifer, Vargas-Rosero Elizabeth
Department of Nursing and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Nursing and Physiotherapy, Universidad de Salamanca, C/Donantes de Sangre s/n, 37007 Salamanca, Spain.
Salamanca Health Care Complex, University Hospital of Salamanca, Paseo de San Vicente, 182, 37007 Salamanca, Spain.
Cancers (Basel). 2022 Mar 23;14(7):1624. doi: 10.3390/cancers14071624.
Cancer patients experience several symptoms throughout their illness and the treatments they receive. While this pathology represents a worldwide health problem, knowing the symptom prevalence in oncology patients remains a challenge; validated tools to obtain this information are essential. Furthermore, this prevalence information would help health professionals to establish appropriate treatments. The objective of this study was to ascertain the symptom prevalence in cancer patients from Spain and Colombia to improve future approaches. The frequency, severity, and distress of 32 symptoms from a validated scale experienced by cancer patients from Spain and Colombia were measured. Two hundred and forty-six patients (49.7%) who attended the Day University Hospital of Salamanca (Spain) and two hundred and forty-nine outpatients (50.3%) of the San Diego Cancer Center (Colombia) between 2016 and 2019 participated in the study. All patients filled in the Assessment Scale only once. Four hundred and ninety-five patients (333 women (67.3%) and 162 men (32.7%)) completed the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (Spanish version). The most frequent symptom for both samples (Spanish and Colombian) was "lack of energy" (38.4% and 13.7%, respectively). The most severe symptoms for the Spanish and Colombian samples were "problems with sexual interest or activity" (38.4%) and "dry mouth" (13.7%), respectively, and both samples agreed on the most distressing symptom: "hair loss" (Spanish, 38%; Colombian, 10.1%). The Spanish version of the MSAS has proven to be a valid and reliable tool in Spanish-speaking countries to obtain the most prevalent, severe, and distressing symptoms in Spanish and Colombian oncology patients. The prevalence of symptoms was demonstrated to be similar across both countries, and the results will help to design and adapt treatments for cancer patients, targeting these symptoms to reduce or avoid them and thus improving their quality of life.
癌症患者在患病及接受治疗的过程中会经历多种症状。尽管这种病症是一个全球性的健康问题，但了解肿瘤患者的症状发生率仍然是一项挑战；获取此类信息的有效工具至关重要。此外，这种发生率信息将有助于医疗专业人员制定合适的治疗方案。本研究的目的是确定西班牙和哥伦比亚癌症患者的症状发生率，以改进未来的治疗方法。对西班牙和哥伦比亚的癌症患者在一个有效量表上所经历的32种症状的频率、严重程度和痛苦程度进行了测量。2016年至2019年间，萨拉曼卡大学日间医院（西班牙）的246名患者（49.7%）和圣地亚哥癌症中心（哥伦比亚）的249名门诊患者（50.3%）参与了该研究。所有患者仅填写一次评估量表。495名患者（333名女性（67.3%）和162名男性（32.7%））完成了纪念症状评估量表（西班牙语版）。两个样本（西班牙和哥伦比亚）中最常见的症状都是“精力不足”（分别为38.4%和13.7%）。西班牙样本和哥伦比亚样本中最严重的症状分别是“性兴趣或活动问题”（38.4%）和“口干”（13.7%），且两个样本在最令人痛苦的症状上达成一致：“脱发”（西班牙，38%；哥伦比亚, 10.1%）。事实证明，MSAS西班牙语版在讲西班牙语的国家是一种有效且可靠的工具，可用于获取西班牙和哥伦比亚肿瘤患者中最常见、最严重和最令人痛苦的症状。两国的症状发生率相似，研究结果将有助于为癌症患者设计和调整治疗方案，针对这些症状减轻或避免它们，从而提高他们的生活质量。
