Integrating a traditional Chinese medicine hospice care system to address depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders in advanced cancer

Table 1 Comparison of basic data between the two groups, n (%)

Data	Observation (n = 34)	Control (n = 34)	t value	P value
Age (years)	58.21 ± 10.31	57.59 ± 9.79	0.31	0.754
Sex (male/female)	18 (52.94)/16 (47.06)	17(50.00)/17 (50.00)	0.037	0.848
Cancer type			0.964	0.809
Gastric	10 (29.41)	11 (32.35)
Lung	12 (35.29)	11 (32.35)
Liver	8 (23.53)	6 (17.65)
Others	4 (11.76)	6 (17.65)
Disease course (months)	18.31 ± 8.23	19.06 ± 7.64	0.556	0.58
Depression score	15.38 ± 3.21	15.59 ± 3.08	0.184	0.854
Anxiety score	14.84 ± 3.51	14.74 ± 3.30	0.135	0.893
Sleep quality score	8.61 ± 2.11	8.53 ± 2.01	0.176	0.861
Preoperative infection indicators (procalcitonin, ng/mL)	0.32 ± 0.15	0.34 ± 0.17	0.542	0.591

Table 2 Changes in clinical symptoms of the two groups

Clinical symptoms	Group	Before treatment	4 weeks after treatment	After treatment	t value	P value
Pain (points)	Observation	7.68 ± 1.24	5.43 ± 1.02	3.21 ± 0.89	12.526	< 0.001
	Control	7.72 ± 1.30	6.28 ± 1.15	5.04 ± 1.07	8.684	0.004
Appetite score (points)	Observation	1.68 ± 0.88	2.54 ± 0.79	3.12 ± 0.66	14.332	< 0.001
	Control	1.74 ± 0.84	2.11 ± 0.76	2.53 ± 0.79	5.032	0.027
Weight change (kg)	Observation	-4.32 to 2.02	-1.34 to 1.22	0.87 ± 1.09	15.927	< 0.001
	Control	-4.22 to 2.15	-2.12 to 1.34	-0.65 to 1.15	6.876	0.009
Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (points)	Observation	21.13 ± 4.23	15.08 ± 3.45	9.63 ± 2.89	19.624	< 0.001
	Control	21.08 ± 4.45	17.47 ± 3.89	12.02 ± 3.28	8.912	0.003
Hamilton Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (points)	Observation	19.62 ± 3.98	14.74 ± 3.12	9.31 ± 2.48	18.045	< 0.001
	Control	19.74 ± 4.02	16.62 ± 3.76	12.54 ± 3.12	7.124	0.008

P < 0.05 indicated significant difference.

Table 3 Changes in mental state of the two groups

Indicators	Group	Before treatment	4 weeks after treatment	After treatment	t value	P value
Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (points)	Observation	21.13 ± 4.23	15.08 ± 3.45	9.63 ± 2.89	19.624	< 0.001
	Control	21.08 ± 4.45	17.47 ± 3.89	12.02 ± 3.28	8.912	0.003
Hamilton Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (points)	Observation	19.62 ± 3.98	14.74 ± 3.12	9.31 ± 2.48	18.045	< 0.001
	Control	19.74 ± 4.02	16.62 ± 3.76	12.54 ± 3.12	7.124	0.008

P < 0.05 indicated significant difference.

Table 4 Changes in sleep quality in the two groups

Group	Before treatment	4 weeks after treatment	After treatment	t value	P value
Observation	15.72 ± 3.10	12.43 ± 2.82	9.61 ± 2.27	12.581	< 0.001
Control	15.61 ± 3.05	13.27 ± 2.98	11.22 ± 3.04	6.298	0.002

P < 0.05 indicated significant difference.

Table 5 Changes of biochemical indicators in the two groups

Indicators	Group	Before treatment	4 weeks after treatment	After treatment	t value	P value
C-reactive protein (mg/L)	Observation	45.60 ± 12.34	35.80 ± 9.12	25.50 ± 8.03	13.578	< 0.001
	Control	45.45 ± 12.15	40.30 ± 10.57	33.40 ± 9.45	8.692	0.003
Carcinoembryonic antigen (ng/mL)	Observation	10.80 ± 3.25	8.12 ± 2.98	5.30 ± 2.14	11.945	< 0.001
	Control	10.75 ± 3.12	9.20 ± 3.01	7.80 ± 2.77	6.423	0.004
White blood cell (× 109/L)	Observation	7.62 ± 2.14	6.58 ± 1.93	5.46 ± 1.75	10.132	< 0.001
	Control	7.59 ± 2.10	7.02 ± 2.04	6.44 ± 2.01	5.211	0.019

P < 0.05 indicated significant difference.

Table 6 Changes in blood pressure and body temperature of the two groups

Indicators	Group	Before treatment	4 weeks after treatment	After treatment	t value	P value
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)	Observation	135.80 ± 14.25	130.40 ± 12.58	125.30 ± 11.34	4.315	< 0.001
	Control	137.00 ± 15.13	134.50 ± 13.87	132.80 ± 12.92	3.291	0.006
Diastolic blood pressure (mmHg)	Observation	85.20 ± 8.45	80.60 ± 7.32	78.30 ± 7.01	3.824	0.001
	Control	86.00 ± 9.12	84.70 ± 8.97	82.50 ± 8.12	2.574	0.02
Temperature (°C)	Observation	37.10 ± 0.52	36.80 ± 0.43	36.60 ± 0.40	4.015	< 0.001
	Control	37.20 ± 0.47	37.00 ± 0.40	36.90 ± 0.39	3.212	0.009

P < 0.05 indicated significant difference.

Table 7 Electrocardiography monitoring in the two groups

Indicators	Group	Before treatment	4 weeks after treatment	After treatment	χ²/t	P value
Heart rate (beats/minute)	Observation	84.50 ± 10.23	75.30 ± 9.41	72.10 ± 8.12	5.762	< 0.001
	Control	85.00 ± 9.98	80.20 ± 9.12	78.50 ± 8.92	3.411	0.006
Incidence of arrhythmia	Observation	6/34 (17.65%)	3/34 (8.82%)	1/34 (2.94%)	9.213	< 0.001
	Control	5/34 (14.71%)	4/34 (11.76%)	3/34 (8.82%)	2.531	0.038
Incidence of atrial fibrillation	Observation	3/34 (8.82%)	1/34 (2.94%)	1/34 (2.94%)	5.204	0.023
	Control	2/34 (5.88%)	1/34 (2.94%)	1/34 (2.94%)	2.013	0.156

P < 0.05 indicated significant difference.

Table 8 Pearson’s correlation analysis results

Variable	Depression score (before treatment)	Anxiety score (before treatment)	Sleep quality score (before treatment)	Depression score (after treatment)	Anxiety score (after treatment)	Sleep quality score (after treatment)
Depression score (before treatment)	1	0.832	0.74	0.864	0.782	0.756
Anxiety score (before treatment)	0.832	1	0.69	0.81	0.859	0.74
Sleep quality score (before treatment)	0.74	0.69	1	0.76	0.78	0.89
Depression score (after treatment)	0.864	0.81	0.76	1	0.87	0.83
Anxiety score (after treatment)	0.782	0.859	0.78	0.87	1	0.86
Sleep quality score (after treatment)	0.756	0.74	0.89	0.83	0.86	1

Table 9 Logistic regression analysis results

Factor	β	SE	χ²	P value	Odds ratio	95%CI
Constant term	-2.315	0.867	7.214	0.007	0.098	0.012-0.768
Number of clinical symptoms	0.547	0.239	5.335	0.021	1.729	1.078-2.788
Depression score (before treatment)	0.455	0.188	5.892	0.015	1.577	1.091-2.277
Anxiety score (before treatment)	0.369	0.214	3.02	0.082	1.446	0.948-2.213
Sleep quality score (before treatment)	0.291	0.201	2.107	0.146	1.338	0.895-2.002
Treatment method (observation group)	1.342	0.756	3.253	0.011	3.826	0.997-15.516
Blood pressure (before treatment, systolic)	0.002	0.005	0.251	0.616	1.002	0.993-1.011
Blood pressure (before treatment, diastolic)	0.004	0.004	1.056	0.304	1.004	0.996-1.013
Body temperature (before treatment)	-0.023	0.023	1.014	0.314	0.977	0.933-1.023
Heart rate (before treatment)	-0.031	0.015	4.036	0.045	0.97	0.935-1.007
Heart rate (after treatment)	0.029	0.018	2.483	0.115	1.03	0.994-1.067