Table 1.
Demographic and descriptive data for the study sample.
| Characteristics | Data |
|---|---|
| Gender | |
| Male | 52% |
| Female | 48% |
| Age, years, mean (SD) | 63 (12) |
| No. of children, mean (SD) | 2.8 (1.7) |
| Family status | |
| Married | 72% |
| Divorced | 16% |
| Widowed | 7% |
| Single | 5% |
| Religion | |
| Jewish | 72% |
| Muslim | 16% |
| Christian | 6% |
| Druze | 3% |
| Unspecified | 3% |
| Country of birth | |
| Israel-Jewish | 34% |
| Israel-Arab | 26% |
| Former USSR | 14% |
| Arab countries | 13% |
| Eastern Europe | 7% |
| Western Europe | 2% |
| Others | 2% |
| Spirituality | |
| Somewhat spiritual | 47% |
| Very spiritual | 29% |
| Not spiritual | 23% |
| Religiosity | |
| Not religious | 47% |
| Traditional | 40% |
| Religious | 13% |
| Education level | |
| High school/professional | 45% |
| Higher education | 37% |
| Elementary only | 18% |
| Economic status, self-reported | |
| Average | 65% |
| Below average | 23% |
| Above average | 13% |
| Type of cancer | |
| GI | 35% |
| Lung | 27% |
| Breast | 12% |
| GU | 12% |
| Head and neck | 7% |
| Gynaecological | 3% |
| Melanoma and sarcoma | 3% |
| Neurological | 1% |
| Place of residence | |
| Home | 97% |
| Supportive housing or nursing facility | 2% |
| Living with partner | |
| Yes | 70% |
| Note: of those with a partner, 82% said the partner provides “a lot” or “quite a lot” of support | |
| Belongs to a supportive social group | |
| Yes | 58% |
| Support of friends and family | |
| High support level | 81% |
| Medium | 12% |
| Low | 7% |
| Holocaust | |
| Holocaust survivor | 6% |
| 2nd generation | 24% |
| Philosophical view of illness (can select 0 or more options) | |
| Fate | 43% |
| Part of life’s randomness | 27% |
| A call for change | 19% |
| Punishment | 10% |
| Enemy | 4% |
| Calmness in past week (increasing calmness scores 1-5) | |
| Mean (SD) | 2.6 (1.3) |
| Not calm (1-2) | 41% |
| Somewhat calm (3) | 31% |
| Calm (4-5) | 28% |
| Preference for preserving QoL vs. aggressive treatment (from 1 to 10, with 1 highest focus on QoL, 10 on aggressive treatment) | |
| Mean (SD) | 6.0 (3.1) |
| Strong preference QoL (1-3) | 27% |
| Weak preference QoL (4-5) | 17% |
| Weak preference aggressive (6-7) | 13% |
| Strong preference aggressive (8-10) | 43% |
Abbreviations: GI, gastrointestinal; GU, genitourinary; QoL, quality of life.