title: Symptom distress profiles in hospitalized patients in Sweden: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: Symptom distress profiles of patients with a variety of diagnoses at two hospitals in Sweden were examined using a point-prevalence cross-sectional survey design. The sample included 710 patients present on internal medicine, surgery, geriatric, and oncology acute care hospital wards of each hospital on a single day. Symptom distress data were collected via structured interviews using a 0-10 numeric rating scale (NRS). Fatigue was the most prevalent symptom, experienced by 76.2% of the patients, followed by pain (65.2%) and sleeping difficulties (52.8%). Symptoms were fairly distressing (median NRS 5-6). Patients experiencing high distress from fatigue and pain were more likely to be female, living alone, and to have more symptoms. Latent class analysis revealed three symptom distress profiles that differed with respect to the degree of distress and number of symptoms. The profiles were not substantially differentiated by diagnoses. Symptom distress needs to be assessed and treated on an individual basis, rather than predicting distress levels based on diagnosis alone.
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Institute of Health and Care Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Box 457, SE-405 30, Göteborg, Sweden; Associate Professor, Centre for Person-Centred Care (GPCC), Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ingela
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Henoch
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sawatzky
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Falk
authors.forename: Isabell
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fridh
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jakobsson Ung
authors.forename: Elisabeth Kenne
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Sarenmalm
authors.forename: Anneli
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ozanne
authors.forename: Joakim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ohlén
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Falk
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D063189:Symptom Assessment / Q000379:methods*
keywords: acute care; fatigue; hospitals; pain; point prevalence survey; symptom cluster; symptom distress; symptom experience; symptom profile; symptoms