A brief symptom index for advanced renal cell carcinoma

Table 1 Mean Index Scores By Baseline Clinical Parameters

	Karnofsky rating ²
	90 (n = 113)	80 (n = 45)	70 (n = 30)	F (post-hoc)⁴	Adjacent category mean differences & effect sizes
Index score ¹	24.76 (sd = 5.62)	22.89 (sd = 6.84)	18.34 (sd = 4.65)	F(2, 185) = 14.67*** 80,90 > 70	1.87 (0.30), 4.55 (0.73)
	No. of metastatic sites
	0 or 1 site (n = 72)		2 or more sites (n = 116)	t	Mean difference & effect size
Index score	24.81 (sd = 5.57)		22.34 (sd = 6.42)	t(186) = 2.69**	2.47 (0.40)
	Risk group ³
	Favorable (F) (n = 47)	Intermediate (I) (n = 95)	Poor (P) (n = 41)	F (post-hoc)⁴	Adjacent category mean differences & effect sizes
Index score	26.96 (sd = 3.82)	23.35 (sd = 6.20)	19.47 (sd = 6.06)	F(2, 180) = 19.18*** F > I > P	3.61 (0.58), 3.88 (0.63)

Note. ¹Higher score, indicates fewer symptoms and better well-being. ²90 = Able to carry on normal activity, minor signs or symptoms of disease. 80 = Normal activity with effort, some signs or symptoms of disease. 70 = Cares for self, unable to carry on normal activity or do active work. ³Based on pretreatment features associated with shorter survival. These include: low Karnofsky rating (< 80%), high lactate dehydrogenase level (≥ 1.5 times upper limit of normal), low hemoglobin level (≤ lower limit of normal), high corrected serum calcium (≥ 10 mg/dL), and absence of nephrectomy. Favorable risk = 0 risk factors present. Intermediate risk = 1–2 risk factors present. Poor risk = 3 or more risk factors present. ⁴Pairwise post-hoc comparisons made using least significant difference test.
**p < .01 ***p < .001

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