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.