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. 2026 Jun 3;25:230. doi: 10.1186/s12904-026-02177-y

Table 2.

Participant characteristics (N = 36)

Variable Total Control
(n = 18)
Intervention (n = 18) t, U, or
χ2
p
Mean ± SD or n (%)
Age, years 26.78 ± 3.61 25.67 ± 2.54 27.89 ± 4.21 1.92 .064
Career, months 43.28 ± 38.00 33.78 ± 26.27 52.78 ± 45.75 1.53 .136
Sex, female 30 (83.3) 18 (100) 12 (66.7) .019a
Marital status, married 2 (5.6) 1 (5.6) 1 (5.6) 1.000a
Religion, yes 12 (33.3) 5 (27.8) 7 (38.9) 0.67 .881
Education level 5.03 .169
 Associate degree 1 (2.8) 1 (5.6) 0 (0.0)
 Bachelor’s degree 31 (86.1) 16 (88.9) 15 (83.3)
  ≥ Master’s degree 4 (11.1) 1 (5.6) 3 (16.7)
Educational experience of ADs, yes 15 (41.7) 7 (38.9) 8 (44.4) 1.000a
Need for an AD 4.49 .344
 Not needed 1 (2.8) 0 (0.0) 1 (5.6)
 Moderately needed 11 (30.6) 4 (22.2) 7 (38.9)
 Urgently needed 8 (22.2) 4 (22.2) 4 (22.2)

Knowledge

about EOL care

16.08 ± 1.57 16.11 ± 1.61 16.06 ± 1.59 −0.10 .917
Attitudes toward ADs 48.08 ± 4.71 46.39 ± 4.78 49.78 ± 4.10 78.5b .007

Communication

self-efficacy

81.64 ± 14.27 85.78 ± 12.35 77.50 ± 15.18 1.80 .082
Communication skills 56.64 ± 7.04 57.44 ± 7.64 55.83 ± 6.50 0.68 .500

ACP

communication confidence

6.58 ± 1.63 6.39 ± 1.46 6.78 ± 1.80 0.71 .482

Abbreviations: ACP Advance care planning, AD Advance directive, EOL End-of-life, SD Standard deviation

aFisher’s exact test

bMann–Whitney U test