Symptom burden and performance status in a population‐based cohort of ambulatory cancer patients

BACKGROUND: For ambulatory cancer patients, Ontario has standardized symptom and performance status assessment population-wide, using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) and Palliative Performance Scale (PPS). In a broad cross-section of cancer outpatients, the authors describe the ESAS and PPS scores and their relation to patient characteristics. METHODS: This is a descriptive study using administrative healthcare data.