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. 2003 Feb 18;88(4):502–509. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6600797

Table 3. Characteristics of interviews led by physicians with internal and external LOC (upper and lower quartiles of the Rotter I-E scale scores distribution).

  Internal LOC External LOC
Age (years)
 Mean (s.d.) 548 (15.5) 576 (13.1)
Gender
 Male 9 (45.0) 4 (23.5)
 Female 11 (55.0) 13 (76.5)
School level completeda
 Junior high school or less 6 (30.0) 3 (17.7)
 High school graduate 6 (30.0) 6 (32.3)
 College or university graduation 8 (40.0) 8 (47.1)
Karnofsky performance status (KPS)a
 80 or more 14 (70.0) 14 (82.4)
 Less than 80 6 (30.0) 3 (17.7)
Hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS)
 Emotional distress total mean scores (s.d.) 109.5 (52.8) 118.2 (62.4)
Multidimensional health locus of control (MHLC)
 Internal HLC mean scores (s.d.) 246.0 (52.2) 226.5 (54.5)
 External Chance HLC mean scores (s.d.) 209.0 (72.8) 218.2 (56.7)
 External Powerful Others HLC mean scores (s.d.) 258.0 (68.6) 258.2 (72.1)
Type of cancera
 Solid tumour 19 (95.0) 14 (82.4)
 Haematologic cancer 1 (5.0) 3 (17.7)
Prognosis
 Less than 1 year 7 (35.0) 4 (23.5)
 1 year or more 13 (65.0) 13 (76.5)
Disease status
 In remission, no change or too early to assess 13 (35.0) 12 (70.6)
 In progression 7 (65.0) 5 (29.4)
Current cancer treatment
 Yes 9 (45.0) 11 (64.7)
 No 11 (55.0) 6 (35.3)
Months since diagnosis
 Mean (s.d.) 287 (43.1) 365 (54.7)
Type of information
 Diagnosis related 11 (55.0) 5 (29.41)
 Not diagnosis related 9 (45.0) 12 (70.59)
Type of news
 Neutral 6 (30.0) 8 (47.1)
 Good 5 (25.0) 5 (29.4)
 Bad 9 (45.0) 4 (23.5)

Except when stated otherwise, values are expressed as frequencies, percentages are in brackets. No statistically significant differences were found between both groups.

a

χ2 not applicable because of a lack of observations in the cells.