Table 1.
Characteristics of the Study Sample
| Characteristic | No. of Patients (N = 886) |
% | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | |||
| Sex | |||
| Male | 435 | 49.1 | |
| Female | 451 | 50.9 | |
| Race | |||
| White | 758 | 85.5 | |
| African American | 91 | 10.3 | |
| Multiple race | 30 | 3.4 | |
| Other | 7 | 0.8 | |
| Ethnicity | |||
| Non-Hispanic | 873 | 98.5 | |
| Hispanic | 13 | 1.5 | |
| Income level | |||
| < $30,000 | 225 | 25.4 | |
| $30,000-$59,999 | 239 | 27.0 | |
| $60,000-$89,999 | 139 | 15.7 | |
| ≥ $90,000 | 189 | 21.3 | |
| Unknown | 94 | 10.6 | |
| Education | |||
| High school or less | 250 | 28.2 | |
| Some college or trade school | 277 | 31.3 | |
| College degree | 199 | 22.5 | |
| Postgraduate | 138 | 15.6 | |
| Unknown | 22 | 2.4 | |
| Marital status | |||
| Married | 648 | 73.1 | |
| Living with partner | 24 | 2.7 | |
| Widowed | 90 | 10.2 | |
| Separated/divorced | 48 | 5.4 | |
| Single | 67 | 7.6 | |
| Unknown | 9 | 1.0 | |
| Employment status | |||
| Retired | 477 | 53.8 | |
| Employed | 350 | 39.5 | |
| Unemployed | 46 | 5.2 | |
| Unknown | 13 | 1.5 | |
| Age at enrollment, years | |||
| Mean | 62.9 | ||
| SD | 13.5 | ||
| Range | 25-92 | ||
| 25-49 | 157 | 17.7 | |
| 50-64 | 323 | 36.5 | |
| 65-79 | 315 | 35.6 | |
| ≥ 80 | 91 | 10.2 | |
| Histology of NHL | |||
| Indolent | 445 | 50.2 | |
| Aggressive | 391 | 44.2 | |
| Unknown | 50 | 5.6 | |
| Stage at diagnosis of NHL | |||
| Stage I | 247 | 27.9 | |
| Stage II | 159 | 17.9 | |
| Stage III | 146 | 16.5 | |
| Stage IV | 214 | 24.2 | |
| Unknown | 120 | 13.5 | |
| Types of treatment | |||
| Mean, No. | 2.1 | ||
| SD, No. | 1.1 | ||
| No treatment | 45 | 5.1 | |
| Surgery | 248 | 28.0 | |
| Radiation therapy | 418 | 47.1 | |
| Chemotherapy | 692 | 78.1 | |
| Bone marrow/stem-cell transplantation | 132 | 14.9 | |
| Biologic therapy | 261 | 29.5 | |
| Other therapy | 104 | 11.7 | |
| Current treatment status | |||
| Not in treatment | 752 | 84.9 | |
| Receiving treatment | 117 | 13.2 | |
| Unknown | 17 | 1.9 | |
| Disease status | |||
| In remission or cured | 680 | 76.7 | |
| Not in remission | 109 | 12.3 | |
| Unknown | 97 | 11.0 | |
| No. of recurrences | |||
| 0 | 562 | 63.4 | |
| ≥ 1 | 293 | 33.1 | |
| Unknown | 31 | 3.5 | |
| No. of NHL-related visits | |||
| 0 | 172 | 19.4 | |
| 1-2 | 126 | 14.2 | |
| 3-4 | 138 | 15.6 | |
| 5-6 | 131 | 14.8 | |
| 7-10 | 90 | 10.2 | |
| 11-20 | 86 | 9.7 | |
| > 20 | 113 | 12.8 | |
| Unknown | 30 | 3.4 | |
| Site of treatment | |||
| Duke University | 750 | 84.7 | |
| UNC | 136 | 15.3 | |
| Age at diagnosis, years | |||
| Mean | 52.6 | ||
| SD | 14.2 | ||
| Range | 19-87 | ||
| 19-49 | 370 | 41.8 | |
| 50-64 | 337 | 38.0 | |
| 65-79 | 168 | 19.0 | |
| ≥ 80 | 11 | 1.2 | |
| Years since diagnosis | |||
| Mean | 10.2 | ||
| SD | 7.1 | ||
| Range | 2-44 | ||
| 2-4 | 219 | 24.7 | |
| 5-9 | 335 | 37.8 | |
| 10-14 | 150 | 16.9 | |
| 15-19 | 88 | 9.9 | |
| ≥ 20 | 94 | 10.6 | |
| Clinical characteristics | |||
| Secondary cancer(s) | |||
| Yes | 120 | 13.5 | |
| No | 752 | 84.9 | |
| Unknown | 14 | 1.6 | |
| Comorbidities, No. | |||
| Mean | 2.9 | ||
| SD | 2.1 | ||
| 0 | 97 | 10.9 | |
| 1-2 | 326 | 36.8 | |
| 3-5 | 341 | 38.5 | |
| 6-8 | 95 | 10.7 | |
| ≥ 9 | 12 | 1.4 | |
| Unknown | 15 | 1.7 | |
| Years since last physical examination | |||
| <1 year | 480 | 54.2 | |
| 1-2 years | 186 | 21.0 | |
| 3-4 years | 71 | 8.0 | |
| ≥ 5 years | 128 | 14.4 | |
| Unknown | 21 | 2.4 | |
| Psychosocial | |||
| Social support | |||
| Mean | 83.1 | ||
| SD | 16.4 | ||
| Range | 20-100 | ||
| Appraisal of life threat and treatment intensity |
|||
| Mean | 19.3 | ||
| SD | 6.0 | ||
| Range | 6-30 | ||
| Employment and insurance issues related to cancer |
|||
| Mean | 1.1 | ||
| SD | 2.1 | ||
| Range | 0-17 |
Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation; NHL, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; UNC, University of North Carolina.