title: Symptom Prevalence of Patients with Cancer in a Tertiary Cancer Center in Jordan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Prevalence of symptoms experienced by patients with cancer was studied in different parts of the world. In Jordan, to the best of our knowledge, there is no published data on the prevalence of symptoms among patients with cancer. The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of symptoms among patients with cancer in Jordan.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a secondary analysis of crosssectional survey that evaluate the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life 15 items Questionnaire for Palliative Care (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL) among patients admitted to a tertiary cancer center in Jordan.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 175 patients with cancer participated in the study; 51.4% were males, 48.6 % were females, mean age of patients was 50 years. Median number of symptoms per patient was 6, interquartile range was 5-7. The majority of patients (143; 81%) had more than 3 non-pain symptoms each. The most frequently reported symptom was tiredness (82%), whereas the least prevalent symptom was depression (55%). Pain was prevalent in 71% of patients, median severity score was 50%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with cancer suffer from a large constellation of symptoms, frequent assessment with a designated tool can help early identification of these symptoms and subsequent management. This highlights the need for integrated palliative services along with other health care provision.
authors.affiliation: King Hussein Cancer Center, Jordan.
authors.forename: Alia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alawneh
authors.affiliation: King Hussein Cancer Center, Jordan.
authors.forename: Huda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Anshasi
authors.affiliation: King Hussein Cancer Center, Jordan.
authors.forename: Ghaleb
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Khirfan
authors.affiliation: King Hussein Cancer Center, Jordan.
authors.forename: Hesham
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yaseen
authors.affiliation: King Hussein Cancer Center, Jordan.
authors.forename: Anood
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Quran
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007597:Jordan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires