TABLE 1.
DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF PATIENTS AND SURROGATE DECISION MAKERS
| Characteristics of Patients and Families | N (%) |
|---|---|
| Patients | 142 |
| Male | 78 (55) |
| Race/ethnicity* | |
| White | 83 (58) |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 30 (21) |
| Hispanic | 17 (12) |
| African American | 14 (10) |
| Native American | 2 (1) |
| Other/multiethnic/undocumented | 3 (2) |
| Admission diagnosis | |
| Neurological failure | 40 (28) |
| Respiratory failure | 38 (27) |
| Cardiac failure/shock (includes sepsis) | 34 (24) |
| Gastrointestinal failure (includes pancreatitis) | 11 (8) |
| Hepatic failure | 11 (8) |
| Metastatic cancer | 5 (4) |
| Renal failure | 3 (2) |
| Mortality | 64 (45) |
| APACHE II Score† | 30 (4) |
| Family members | 179 |
| Female | 125 (70) |
| Race/ethnicity* | |
| White | 109 (61) |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 28 (16) |
| Hispanic | 26 (15) |
| African American | 19 (11) |
| Other/multiethnic/undocumented | 12 (7) |
| Native American | 2 (1) |
| Relationship to patient | |
| Child | 66 (37) |
| Spouse/Partner | 39 (22) |
| Other | 31 (17) |
| Sibling | 23 (13) |
| Parent | 18 (10) |
| Friend | 2 (1) |
| Level of education | |
| Some college or trade school | 58 (32) |
| Some high school (including diploma or GED) | 48 (27) |
| Graduate or professional school | 38 (21) |
| 4-yr college degree | 35 (20) |
| 8th grade or less | 0 (0) |
| Primary language | |
| English | 145 (81) |
| Spanish | 13 (7) |
| Other‡ | 10 (6) |
| Tagalog | 6 (3) |
| Cantonese | 5 (3) |
| Religious preference | |
| Catholic | 57 (32) |
| None/agnostic/atheist | 38 (21) |
| Protestant | 37 (21) |
| Other Christian (LDS/Mormons, JW) | 22 (12) |
| No response | 12 (7) |
| Jewish | 5 (3) |
| Other (including Spiritualist) | 5 (3) |
| Hindu | 1 (0.5) |
| Buddhist | 1 (0.5) |
| Muslim | 1 (0.5) |
| Importance of religion/spiritual beliefs in everyday life | |
| Very important | 86 (48) |
| Fairly important | 38 (21) |
| Not too important | 30 (17) |
| Declined response | 13 (7) |
| Not at all important | 12 (7) |
| Self-reported discussion of prognosis with doctor prior to interview | |
| Yes | 142 (79) |
Definition of abbreviation: APACHE = Acute Physiology, and Chronic Health Evaluation.
*
Sums are greater than n = 142 or n = 179 because some individuals identified with more than one race/ethnicity.
†
APACHE score is expressed as mean (SD).
‡
Includes Vietnamese, Mandarin, Korean, Russian, Italian, Farsi, Greek, and Unspecified.