Table 1.

Patient Characteristics Associated with Physicians' Recommended Goal of Care (N = 239)

		Discussed Prognosis and Goal of Care
Characteristic	No Discussion (n = 61)	Comfort Care (n = 84)	Prolong Life (n = 94)	P Value*
Mean age, y	67.3	72.1	61.2	.001
Age, %
<50 y	5.0	3.7	11.6	.002
50–59 y	3.3	3.7	6.6	NS
60–69 y	5.8	3.7	7.0	NS
≥70 y	12.0	23.7	13.7	.001
Female, %	41.0	52.4	38.3	.06
Race, %
White	71.7	65.0	62.6	NS
Black	13.3	12.5	20.9	NS
Hispanic	10.0	16.3	12.1	NS
Other	5.0	4.3	6.0	NS
High school education or more, %	73.0	69.5	66.0	NS
Religious affiliation, %
None	32.2	30.8	37.7	NS
Christian	60.7	59.8	56.5	NS
Jewish	5.1	7.7	4.7	NS
Other	3.3	3.7	3.3	NS
Insurance, %
Commercial fee-for-service	12.7	7.3	8.5	NS
Commercial HMO	3.2	4.9	8.5	NS
Medicare fee-for-service	44.4	47.6	35.1	NS
Medicare HMO	15.9	13.4	7.5	NS
Medicaid	6.4	14.6	22.3	NS
Uninsured	11.1	8.5	9.6	NS
Mean Charlson comorbidity score	4.90	4.29	4.14	NS
Charlson score ≥5, %	45.0	44.4	33.3	NS
Any cancer, %	49.2	41.5	42.6	NS
Metastatic cancer, %	8.5	6.8	9.8	NS
Congestive heart failure, %	9.4	11.1	10.6	NS
Cerebrovascular disease, %	4.7	4.3	3.4	NS
Prior myocardial infarction, %	4.3	6.8	5.5	NS
Chronic pulmonary disease, %	4.3	8.5	8.5	NS
Diabetes with end-organ damage, %	1.0	3.0	4.0	NS
End-stage liver disease, %	3.0	3.6	6.0	NS
Renal failure (creatinine>3.0), %	6.4	8.5	10.2	NS
Documented confusion or proxy required to complete interview, %	31.8	53.6	36.2	.04
Duration of patient-physician relationship, %
Hospitalization only	61.1	50.6	61.3	NS
>Hospitalization but ≤1 y	33.3	15.7	16.1	NS
≥1 y	5.6	33.7	22.6	NS

^*P value compares the difference between comfort care and prolong life recommendations. NS indicates not significant.