title: Symptom experience in Korean patients with liver cirrhosis.
abstract: This study was done to examine the level of symptom experience, and symptom variation in relation to demographic and clinical variables, in Korean patients with liver cirrhosis (LC). Symptom experience was measured using a scale developed by the researchers through a literature review on LC. Participants were 129 patients whose mean age was 53.6 (standard deviation [SD] = 9.28) years. The results indicated that (1) overall symptom experience was relatively low (mean 41.67, SD 24.71); (2) the main symptoms needing a management were fatigue, abdominal distension and/or peripheral edema, and muscle cramps; and (3) among the study variables, the severity of LC (P < 0.001) and the number of hospitalizations (P = 0.014) showed a significant relationship with overall symptom experience. These results suggest that symptom assessment requires a multidimensional approach and that it is imperative to consider disease severity in developing tailored symptom management programs for Korean patients with LC.
authors.affiliation: Quality of Cancer Care Branch, Research Institute and Hospital, National Cancer Center, Goyang, Gyeonggi, South Korea. hhunny@naver.com
authors.forename: Soo-Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Eui-Geum
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Won-Hee
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ok-Soo
authors.initials: OS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kwang-Hyup
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D044466:Asian People; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology