Impact of “four-step” death education on life quality and negative emotions in advanced esophageal cancer patients and families

Table 2 Patient symptom domain quality of life scores, mean ± SD

Index	SC group (n = 127)	FDE group (n = 108)	t/χ2	P value
Pre-intervention symptoms
Fatigue	67.33 ± 7.43	68.04 ± 7.21	0.743	0.458
Nausea and vomiting	72.14 ± 3.55	72.59 ± 3.89	0.922	0.358
Pain	87.28 ± 6.44	88.11 ± 6.18	1.007	0.315
Dyspnea	62.56 ± 6.34	63.62 ± 6.59	1.259	0.209
Insomnia	83.66 ± 7.35	84.23 ± 7.49	0.586	0.558
Loss of appetite	58.95 ± 4.57	59.23 ± 4.43	0.468	0.640
Constipation	59.67 ± 5.72	60.33 ± 5.45	0.896	0.371
Diarrhea	43.89 ± 6.33	44.17 ± 5.48	0.351	0.726
Financial difficulty	40.33 ± 4.42	40.67 ± 4.39	0.591	0.555
Post-intervention symptoms
Fatigue	62.68 ± 6.40	61.03 ± 6.12	2.003	0.046
Nausea and vomiting	63.84 ± 4.56	62.53 ± 4.75	2.165	0.031
Pain	77.16 ± 5.18	76.23 ± 4.84	1.417	0.158
Dyspnea	51.32 ± 5.86	50.67 ± 5.19	0.887	0.376
Insomnia	75.13 ± 5.61	73.57 ± 5.46	2.152	0.032
Loss of appetite	42.61 ± 6.56	40.88 ± 5.78	2.131	0.034
Constipation	47.13 ± 5.82	46.65 ± 5.67	0.640	0.523
Diarrhea	37.59 ± 4.36	36.72 ± 4.22	1.555	0.121
Financial difficulty	36.15 ± 4.82	35.67 ± 4.69	0.768	0.443

SC: Standard care; FDE: Four-step death education.