Table 3.
Proportion of Community-Dwelling Elders with Advance Directives Across Selected Characteristics (n=220)
| Number with Characteristic (n) |
% with Advance Directives* |
|
|---|---|---|
| Demographic Characteristics | ||
| Sex | ||
| Female | 147 | 40.8 |
| Male | 73 | 42.5 |
| Education† | ||
| Less than high school graduate | 51 | 23.5 |
| High school graduate | 93 | 40.9 |
| More than high school | 73 | 54.8 |
| Place of residence† | ||
| Private residence | 169 | 37.9 |
| Other (e.g. assisted living) | 51 | 52.9 |
| Social Support | ||
| Marital status | ||
| Married | 62 | 46.8 |
| Widow | 140 | 41.4 |
| Other | 16 | 25.0 |
| Lives situation | ||
| Lives alone | 109 | 45.0 |
| Lives with someone | 109 | 36.7 |
| Has someone to listen† | ||
| None of the time | 8 | 12.5 |
| Some of the time | 65 | 32.3 |
| All of the time | 136 | 49.3 |
| Has someone to provide emotional support and help make difficult decisions |
||
| None of the time | 9 | 22.2 |
| Some of the time | 35 | 34.3 |
| All of the time | 166 | 45.2 |
| Clinical Characteristics | ||
| Number of comorbid illnesses | ||
| None | 69 | 44.9 |
| 1 | 74 | 39.2 |
| 2 | 52 | 42.3 |
| 3 or more | 25 | 36.0 |
| Perceived health status | ||
| Excellent | 37 | 43.2 |
| Good | 140 | 41.4 |
| Fair/poor | 39 | 41.0 |
| Perceived chance of living 12 months or longer | ||
| 90% or better | 128 | 45.3 |
| about 75% | 22 | 31.8 |
| 50% or worse | 52 | 36.5 |
| Unsure | 17 | 41.2 |
| Perceived chance of taking care of self in 12 months |
||
| 90% or better | 120 | 48.3 |
| about 75% | 38 | 36.8 |
| 50% or worse | 49 | 28.6 |
| Unsure | 11 | 36.4 |
| CES-D+ Score ≥ 16, indicating significant depressive symptoms† |
||
| No | 183 | 44.8 |
| Yes | 35 | 25.7 |
| Cognitive status, MMSE Score†† | ||
| < 24 | 198 | 42.4 |
| ≥ 24 | 22 | 31.8 |
| ADL§ dependencies | ||
| None | 193 | 43.0 |
| 1 or more | 27 | 29.6 |
| Uses assistive device to perform ADL§ | ||
| No | 81 | 45.7 |
| Yes | 139 | 38.9 |
| Ability to walk a half mile without help | ||
| Able | 106 | 49.0 |
| Unable | 77 | 33.8 |
| Doesn’t do | 34 | 32.3 |
| Health care use since last exam | ||
| Check up by doctor | ||
| No | 8 | 37.5 |
| Yes | 211 | 41.7 |
| Illness visit to doctor | ||
| No visit | 135 | 37.8 |
| 1 | 53 | 52.8 |
| 2 or more | 12 | 37.5 |
| Hospitalization | ||
| None | 132 | 42.4 |
| 1 | 52 | 36.5 |
| 2 or more | 36 | 44.4 |
| Nursing home stay | ||
| No | 193 | 43.5 |
| Yes | 27 | 25.9 |
Percentages refer to proportion of participants with a particular characteristic who had an advance directive.
p-value <0.05.
CES-D = Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.
MMSE = Mini-Mental Status Exam
ADL = Activities of daily living.
Number of observations with missing data — education (n=3); marital status (n=2); perceived health (n=4); living alone (n=2); having someone to listen to you (n=11); having someone to provide emotional support and help make difficult decisions (n=10); perceived health status (n=4); perceived ability to take care of self (n=13); perception of living 12 months or longer (n=18); CES-D (n=2); ADLs (n=1); Interim check up by doctor (n=1).