Table 1.
Characteristics of the study sample by caregiver relationship
| TOTAL | Spouse | Daughter – Son | Other Relatives | Health Professionals | |||||||
| N. | % | N. | % | N. | % | N. | % | N. | % | ||
| AGE AT DEATH (years) | |||||||||||
| 18–64 | 242 | 19.2 | 128 | 32.5 | 56 | 10.2 | 56 | 20.9 | 2 | 4.6 | |
| 65–84 | 785 | 64.1 | 237 | 64.1 | 391 | 68.6 | 139 | 54.9 | 18 | 51.2 | |
| 85 + | 222 | 16.7 | 14 | 3.3 | 132 | 21.1 | 60 | 24.2 | 16 | 44.2 | P < 0.001 |
| GENDER | |||||||||||
| Males | 700 | 57.4 | 297 | 79.9 | 281 | 49.3 | 109 | 43.7 | 13 | 34.1 | |
| Females | 549 | 42.6 | 82 | 20.1 | 298 | 50.7 | 146 | 56.3 | 23 | 65.9 | P < 0.001 |
| EDUCATION (years) | |||||||||||
| ≤ 5 | 819 | 66.9 | 203 | 54.2 | 427 | 75.2 | 163 | 66.7 | 26 | 72.1 | |
| 6–8 | 224 | 17.1 | 86 | 21.8 | 86 | 14.0 | 45 | 16.6 | 7 | 19.8 | |
| ≥ 9 | 205 | 16.0 | 90 | 24.0 | 65 | 10.8 | 47 | 16.7 | 3 | 8.1 | P < 0.001 |
| PRIMARY TUMOR | |||||||||||
| Digestive | 453 | 35.6 | 120 | 30.4 | 237 | 39.7 | 87 | 35.2 | 9 | 25.9 | |
| Respiratory | 262 | 21.7 | 113 | 29.3 | 99 | 18.4 | 44 | 18.4 | 6 | 16.3 | |
| Breast | 124 | 10.0 | 29 | 7.8 | 52 | 9.1 | 30 | 11.7 | 13 | 40.3 | |
| Genitourinary | 184 | 14.8 | 58 | 16.3 | 85 | 14.5 | 38 | 13.9 | 3 | 6.8 | |
| Haematological | 91 | 7.5 | 26 | 7.0 | 45 | 8.2 | 17 | 6.7 | 3 | 6.8 | |
| Nervous Central System | 32 | 2.7 | 9 | 2.8 | 15 | 2.8 | 8 | 2.7 | - | - | |
| Others | 103 | 7.8 | 24 | 6.5 | 46 | 7.4 | 31 | 11.4 | 2 | 3.9 | P = 0.003 |
| TOTAL | 1,249 | 100 | 379 | 100 | 579 | 100 | 255 | 100 | 36 | 100 | |
NOTE: all percentages are weighted column percentages