Frequency of Symptoms in Patients With Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy, According to Gender and the Primary Site of the Cancer in Kashan, Iran, 2017

Patients with cancer under chemotherapy usually manifest a wide range of symptoms. The frequency of these symptoms is reported differently. The current study aimed at addressing the common symptoms of cancer, according to gender and primary site of cancer in patients receiving chemotherapy in Kashan, Iran, in 2017. The current cross-sectional study was conducted on 186 patients with cancer. The frequency of 14 common symptoms in cancer was evaluated with interviewing the patients. The data were analyzed with SPSS version 13 using descriptive statistics, chi-square, the Mann-Whitney U, and the Kruskal-Wallis tests. About half of the subjects were female, and 58.1% aged above 50 years. The common primary sites of cancer were breast (23.1%), colon (21%), bone (11.3%), and lung (7%). The most common symptoms were fatigue (86.6%), followed by dry mouth, insomnia, anorexia, and pain. The subjects reported 6.672.63± symptoms in average. The patients with the history of surgery reported significantly more symptoms. The symptoms of insomnia, nausea, and diarrhea were significantly higher in female patients, while anorexia was significantly higher in male ones. Dry mouth, diarrhea, and total number of symptoms were significantly associated with the primary site of the cancer. Patients with cancer experience various symptoms that are different based on the primary site of the cancer and the gender of patients. Any effective actions in palliative care should be based on the accurate assessment of the symptoms.