Measuring symptom burden in patients with cancer during a pandemic: the MD Anderson symptom inventory for COVID-19 (MDASI-COVID)

Williams, Loretta A.; Whisenant, Meagan S.; Mendoza, Tito R.; Peek, Angela E.; Malveaux, Donna; Griffin, Donna K.; Ponce, Darcy A.; Granwehr, Bruno Palma; Sheshadri, Ajay; Hutcheson, Katherine A.; Ali, Sara M.; Peterson, Susan K.; Heymach, John V.; Cleeland, Charles S.; Subbiah, Ishwaria M.

doi:10.1186/s41687-023-00591-x

Journal of Patient-Reported Outcomes

Table 3 Descriptive Statistics for the MDASI-COVID Test Items

From: Measuring symptom burden in patients with cancer during a pandemic: the MD Anderson symptom inventory for COVID-19 (MDASI-COVID)

MDASICOVID	N	Mean	SD	Min/ Max	LCL	UCL	% = 0^a	% 1–4^b	% ≥5^c	% ≥7^d	% Missing^e
Core symptoms (rank order)
Fatigue	595	3.48	3.17	0/10	2.19	3.72	27.0	35.5	36.6	21.3	0.8
Drowsiness	596	2.49	2.87	0/10	2.26	2.74	39.0	36.3	24.0	14.0	0.7
Sleep disturbance	591	2.48	3.03	0/10	2.19	2.69	43.2	30.5	24.8	14.3	1.5
Distress	594	2.34	2.95	0/10	2.02	2.51	43.7	32.7	22.6	13.3	1.0
Pain	594	2.12	3.00	0/10	1.85	2.35	51.3	26.8	20.8	13.5	1.0
Lack of appetite	593	2.08	2.98	0/10	1.79	2.29	54.7	22.7	21.5	12.3	1.2
Dry mouth	594	2.07	2.92	0/10	1.80	2.29	51.5	28.5	20.0	11.8	1.0
Sadness	594	1.72	2.67	0/10	1.44	1.87	55.2	28.1	16.2	8.6	1.0
Difficulty remembering	596	1.61	2.45	0/10	1.37	1.78	55.8	29.0	14.6	7.0	0.7
Shortness of breath	594	1.56	2.56	0/10	1.30	1.73	60.0	23.3	15.7	7.7	1.0
Numbness	593	1.28	2.29	0/10	1.03	1.40	64.7	24.5	10.1	5.4	1.2
Nausea	594	1.05	2.22	0/10	0.88	1.25	71.8	17.2	10.0	4.7	1.0
Vomiting	595	0.54	1.83	0/10	0.38	0.67	64.7	24.2	10.0	5.3	1.2
Module items (rank order)
Malaise	595	2.40	3.05	0/10	2.12	2.63	43.5	32.0	23.6	14.3	0.8
Change in taste	593	2.07	3.23	0/10	1.81	2.35	58.0	21.4	19.9	14.8	1.2
Muscle weakness	596	2.05	2.76	0/10	1.80	2.25	47.7	32.2	19.5	10.2	0.7
Change in smell	596	1.92	3.26	0/10	1.66	2.21	62.9	17.6	19.4	14.4	0.7
Muscle soreness	595	1.92	2.78	0/10	1.69	2.15	52.3	28.7	18.2	9.7	0.8
Headache	593	1.85	2.78	0/10	1.63	2.10	53.8	27.2	17.8	9.8	1.2
Nasal congestion	360	1.78	2.34	0/10	1.53	2.02	47.1	38.3	13.8	5.8	0.8
Coughing	595	1.62	2.38	0/10	1.40	1.80	50.0	36.5	12.7	6.5	0.8
Fever	596	1.44	2.71	0/10	1.21	1.66	67.7	17.6	14.2	8.7	0.7
Diarrhea	596	1.29	2.41	0/10	1.10	1.51	66.7	20.3	12.3	6.5	0.7
Chest heaviness	593	1.27	2.29	0/10	0.92	1.44	63.2	26.5	10.3	6.1	1.2
Eye problems	360	1.18	2.19	0/10	0.94	1.40	66.9	21.2	11.0	4.1	0.8
Sore mouth	594	1.10	2.18	0/10	0.92	1.29	68.2	22.3	8.5	5.2	1.0
Skin problems	358	0.85	1.91	0/10	0.63	1.01	74.7	17.6	6.4	3.6	1.4
Interference items (rank order)
Work, including housework	596	2.91	3.47	0/10	2.63	3.19	44.2	25.2	30.0	20.3	0.7
General activity	595	2.72	3.27	0/10	2.40	2.95	43.0	28.2	28.0	17.0	0.8
Enjoyment of life	595	2.52	3.19	0/10	2.20	2.73	44.8	29.8	24.5	15.0	0.8
Mood	593	2.15	2.87	0/10	1.84	2.31	47.8	29.5	21.5	10.8	1.2
Walking	596	1.93	3.02	0/10	1.60	2.09	59.7	20.0	19.6	12.8	0.7
Relations with other people	592	1.86	2.91	0/10	1.58	2.06	57.2	23.2	18.3	9.8	1.3
Subscale scores
13 core symptom items	597	1.91	1.99	0/9.31	1.73	2.05
11 module items	597	1.72	2.06	0/10	1.32	1.87
14 module items	597	1.65	1.96	0/9.29	1.47	1.86
All 27 symptom items	598	1.79	1.90	0/9.30	1.62	1.93
6 interference items	597	2.35	2.73	0/10	2.12	2.56
WAW items	597	2.52	3.01	0/10	2.26	2.75
REM items	597	2.18	2.68	0/10	1.95	2.38

^a Percentage of patients who rated the item as not present (score = 0 on the 0–10 scale)
^b Percentage of patients who rated the item as mild (score = 1–4 on the 0–10 scale)
^c Percentage of patients who rated the item as moderate to severe (score = 5–10 on the 0–10 scale)
^d Percentage of patients who rated the item as severe (score = 7–10 on the 0–10 scale)
^e Percentage of patients who did not rate the item
Abbreviations: COVID, novel coronavirus disease 2019; LCL, lower 95% confidence limit; MDASI, MD Anderson Symptom Inventory; REM, composite of the interference items relations with other people, enjoyment of life, and mood; UCL, upper 95% confidence limit; WAW, composite of the interference items work, general activity, and walking

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