Background: A high-quality symptom assessment is crucial to providing patient-centered palliative care resulting in positive outcomes for patients and their families.
Objective: To study the symptom burden in elderly female patients receiving palliative care at the geriatric palliative care unit; from the patient's, caregiver's, and physician's perspective.
Subjects and Methods: This cross-sectional study included ninety-five (95) elderly female patients. Female patients admitted to palliative care unit (due to cancer and non-cancer conditions) and fulfilling the recruitment criteria were included. They were subjected to comprehensive geriatric assessment and detailed symptom inquiry utilizing the abbreviated version of Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale (MSAS-SF). We inquired about the most distressing symptom affecting quality of life from the caregiver perspective and the attending physician perspective.
Results: The most prevalent symptoms were lack of appetite, pain, difficulty concentrating, and lack of energy. The participants had a mean total MSAS score of 1.91. Participants reported an average of 22.9 symptoms. From caregivers' perspective, the most distressing symptoms were pain, lack of appetite and dyspnea. From attending physicians' perspective the most distressing symptoms were pain, dyspnea, and lack of energy. Symptom burden was associated with functional dependence and depression. Lung cancer patients had the highest total MSAS score. Patients with end-stage renal disease had the highest numbers of symptoms.
Conclusion: Elderly female patients admitted to geriatric palliative care unit experience significant symptom burden. Supportive care for patients in palliative care settings should be personalized, taking into account specific patient groups that may require more extensive symptom management.