DOES TREATMENT ALLEVIATE LYMPHEDEMA SYMPTOMS? A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY EVALUATING PATIENT PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

Most studies evaluating lymphedematreatment effect focus on objective reductionsin limb volume, with little attention given tosubjective treatment outcomes. The objectiveof this work was to describe the range oflymphedema symptoms experienced bypatients and the importance of symptomimprovement following treatment. The secondaim was to explore lymphedema treatment useand the effect of individual treatments onsymptoms, from the patient’s perspective.Australian adults with lymphedema (n=421)completed a self-administered questionnaire.Information was collected about patients’symptoms, the importance of symptomimprovement following treatment, as well astreatment types used and perceived effectivenessof each treatment. In addition toswelling, the vast majority of participantsexperienced heaviness and tightness in theaffected region. Overall, symptoms oflymphedema varied between individuals butthe majority considered subjective symptomimprovement to be an important outcome oftreatment. The most commonly usedtreatments were compression garments, selfmassage,prescribed exercises, and manuallymph drainage, and the majority (95%) ofparticipants had used multiple treatmentsto manage their lymphedema. The impact oftreatments on subjective symptoms varieswidely between treatments. Consequently,in addition to objective measures of swelling,it is important to include patient-reportedoutcomes in future prospective lymphedematreatment studies.