Time 0 | 3 months | 6 months | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Control | Intervention | Control | Intervention | Control | Intervention | ||||||||||
N | Mean | N | Mean | p value* | N | Mean | N | Mean | p value* | N | Mean | N | Mean | p value* | |
N=number of patients who answered all index/item questions. Questions with missing values were excluded, so the numbers given here are lower than the numbers from the responders (fig 1). | |||||||||||||||
Mean values are listed. The values did not follow a normal distribution. The first five items show a distribution towards higher numbers (right skewed). The global and fatigue items show a tendency towards a normal distribution. The last indexes/items show a distribution towards lower numbers (left skewed). | |||||||||||||||
The mean measure scores range from 0 to 100. A high score on a functional scale represents a high/healthy level of functioning, a high score on the global health status represents a high quality of life, but a high score on a symptom scale represents a high level of symptoms. | |||||||||||||||
*The Mann-Whitney U test was applied to detect statistical differences between the control and the intervention group. Statistical level of significance 0.05. Asymptote significance (two tailed). | |||||||||||||||
Physical functioning (5 items), role functioning (2 items), emotional functioning (4 items), cognitive functioning (2 items), social functioning (2 items), global health status (2 items), fatigue symptom (3 items), nausea and vomiting (2 items), pain symptom (2 items), dyspnoea (1 item), insomnia (1 item), appetite loss (1 item), constipation (1 item), diarrhoea (1 item). Financial difficulties (1 item). | |||||||||||||||
Functional scales | |||||||||||||||
Physical functioning | 111 | 78.35 | 101 | 77.33 | 0.971 | 96 | 82.03 | 83 | 80.72 | 0.804 | 91 | 81.32 | 80 | 80.92 | 0.620 |
Role functioning | 109 | 53.82 | 100 | 60.17 | 0.141 | 97 | 69.76 | 81 | 72.02 | 0.554 | 91 | 72.71 | 79 | 73.42 | 0.781 |
Emotional functioning | 110 | 68.26 | 100 | 69.00 | 0.776 | 97 | 77.12 | 83 | 80.22 | 0.308 | 91 | 78.14 | 80 | 75.42 | 0.665 |
Cognitive functioning | 110 | 83.94 | 100 | 82.00 | 0.649 | 97 | 84.02 | 83 | 86.14 | 0.690 | 91 | 84.98 | 80 | 81.88 | 0.357 |
Social functioning | 110 | 86.36 | 99 | 85.69 | 0.951 | 97 | 84.54 | 83 | 87.15 | 0.318 | 91 | 83.70 | 80 | 84.17 | 0.744 |
Global health status | |||||||||||||||
Global health status | 109 | 63.46 | 98 | 65.99 | 0.236 | 97 | 69.93 | 83 | 70.08 | 0.782 | 92 | 69.11 | 80 | 69.79 | 0.933 |
Symptom scales/items | |||||||||||||||
Fatigue | 111 | 36.94 | 101 | 34.43 | 0.272 | 97 | 35.62 | 83 | 30.79 | 0.177 | 91 | 31.14 | 80 | 29.31 | 0.874 |
Nausea and vomiting | 111 | 7.06 | 101 | 7.43 | 0.987 | 97 | 8.59 | 83 | 10.44 | 0.886 | 92 | 8.15 | 80 | 8.13 | 0.843 |
Pain | 110 | 29.24 | 101 | 23.43 | 0.076 | 97 | 24.74 | 83 | 19.28 | 0.069 | 91 | 21.80 | 80 | 19.38 | 0.345 |
Dyspnoea | 111 | 9.61 | 100 | 15.33 | 0.040 | 96 | 14.58 | 83 | 13.25 | 0.930 | 92 | 14.49 | 80 | 15.00 | 0.921 |
Insomnia | 111 | 32.43 | 101 | 26.40 | 0.113 | 96 | 27.43 | 83 | 23.29 | 0.168 | 92 | 24.28 | 80 | 22.50 | 0.729 |
Appetite loss | 111 | 18.92 | 100 | 19.00 | 0.855 | 97 | 14.09 | 83 | 16.47 | 0.761 | 92 | 15.22 | 80 | 15.00 | 0.591 |
Constipation | 109 | 12.23 | 99 | 12.12 | 0.677 | 97 | 9.97 | 83 | 12.05 | 0.922 | 91 | 10.26 | 80 | 12.50 | 0.502 |
Diarrhoea | 108 | 12.35 | 98 | 11.22 | 0.458 | 96 | 13.54 | 83 | 12.45 | 0.587 | 91 | 13.55 | 80 | 11.25 | 0.564 |
Financial difficulties | 110 | 13.94 | 98 | 8.84 | 0.145 | 97 | 12.37 | 82 | 12.20 | 0.591 | 91 | 16.85 | 79 | 11.39 | 0.110 |