Evaluation of self-reported symptoms and interference issues in patients with prostate cancer.

Abstract

e16547 Background: Prostate cancer (PC) is a leading cause of global mortality and is expected to become the leading cause of death among men in the U.S.A. Both the disease and its treatments produce a variety of symptoms (sx) that impact PC outcomes, of which the more common sxs are in relation to sexual dysfunction. A large body of literature has established that systematic patient (pt) reporting of symptoms during routine oncology care leads to clinical benefits. At our comprehensive cancer center we evaluate pts’ reported sxs using the Symptom Inventory Tool (SIT), an assessment (asst) tool that captures the pts’ perceived sx burden for real-time clinical intervention taken at the point of no intervention (baseline) and every ≥ 21 days thereafter. Methods: The 27-question SIT is comprised of the M.D. Anderson Symptom Inventory Tool (MDASI), a validated asst instrument, with 8 supplementary questions by Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA). Sxs are rated “at the worst” on a numeric scale ranging from 0 (“none present”) to 10 (“as bad as you can imagine”), as experienced by pts in the past 24 hours. Results: Over a 45 month period (9/1/2012 to 05/31/2016), PC pts at CTCA completed the SIT at intake and again ≥ 21 days after. A total of 2,937 assts were analyzed. The assts consisted of 1,065 completed at baseline (BL), 1,065 completed at the 2nd follow up (FU), and 807 completed at 3rd FU or greater. BL mean, standard deviation (STD), and interquartile ranges (IQR) are shown in Table 1. Further analysis of assts identified that pts who rated their sxs as “very burdensome” (≥ 5) at BL would be more likely to report a significant decrease (dec) in their sxs burden than the average PC pt population. Conclusions: The SIT was successful in identifying sxs burden and interference with life issues in PC pts. Sexual dysfunction and disturbed sleep were the most common reported sxs. Early identification of pts with heavy sx-burden allowed immediate intervention and improvement in 1/4 to 2/3 of pts. [Table: see text]