Table 1.
Characteristics of 7,879 patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer by receipt of chemotherapy
| Variables | No chemotherapy (n = 4,345) |
Standard chemotherapy (n = 3,235) |
Aggressive -approach chemotherapy (n = 299) |
P-value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 groups | No chemo-therapy vs. Chemo- therapy* | Standard chemotherapy vs. Aggressive -approach chemotherapy | |||||
| Age at diagnosis, years | Median [IQR] | 73.0 [69.0-78.0] | 71.0 [68.0-74.0] | 70.0 [67.0-74.0] | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | 0.36 |
| Gender, n (%) | Female | 1,938 (44.6) | 1,291 (39.9) | 108 (36.1) | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | 0.20 |
| Male | 2,407 (55.4) | 1,944 (60.1) | 191 (63.9) | ||||
| Charlson comorbidity index, n (%) | 0 | 3,123 (71.9) | 2,401 (74.2) | 226 (75.6) | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | 0.06 |
| 1 | 773 (17.8) | 576 (17.8) | 60 (20.1) | ||||
| 2 ≤ | 449 (10.3) | 258 (8.0) | 13 (4.4) | ||||
| Race/Ethnicity, n (%) | non-Hispanic white | 3,551 (81.7) | 2,711 (83.8) | 254 (85.0) | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.22 |
| non-Hispanic black | 425 (9.8) | 248 (7.7) | 21 (7.0) | ||||
| Hispanic or other | 369 (8.5) | 276 (8.5) | 24 (8.0) | ||||
| Region of tumor registries, n (%) | Northeast | 672 (15.5) | 555 (17.2) | 51 (17.1) | < 0.01 | < 0.01 | 0.06 |
| South | 228 (5.3) | 194 (6.0) | 28 (9.4) | ||||
| Midwest | 1,426 (32.8) | 1,101 (34.0) | 86 (28.8) | ||||
| West | 2019 (46.5) | 1385 (42.8) | 134 (44.8) | ||||
| Urban residence, n (%) | Yes | 3,928 (90.4) | 2,973 (91.9) | 284 (95.0) | < 0.01 | < 0.01 | 0.06 |
| No | 417 (9.6) | 262 (8.1) | 15 (5.0) | ||||
| Socioeconomic status, n (%) | Highest quintile | 763 (17.6) | 682 (21.1) | 71 (23.8) | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | 0.85 |
| Fourth quintile | 793 (18.3) | 673 (20.8) | 63 (21.1) | ||||
| Third quintile | 866 (19.9) | 688 (21.3) | 59 (19.7) | ||||
| Second quintile | 849 (19.5) | 635 (19.6) | 56 (18.7) | ||||
| Lowest quintile | 1,074 (24.7) | 557 (17.2) | 50 (16.7) | ||||
| Median income | Median [IQR] |
38,154 [29-152] | 41,205 [32-757] | 43,564 [32-179] | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | 0.28 |
| Teaching hospital, n (%) | Yes | 2,110 (48.6) | 1,868 (57.7) | 163 (54.5) | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | 0.28 |
| No | 2,235 (51.4) | 1,367 (42.3) | 136 (45.5) | ||||
| Year of death, n (%) | 1991 | 365 (8.4) | 206 (6.4) | 18 (6.0) | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | 0.02 |
| 1992 | 576 (13.3) | 299 (9.2) | 22 (7.4) | ||||
| 1993 | 567 (13.1) | 340 (10.5) | 15 (5.0) | ||||
| 1994 | 581 (13.4) | 339 (10.5) | 33 (11.0) | ||||
| 1995 | 518 (11.9) | 372 (11.5) | 33 (11.0) | ||||
| 1996 | 490 (11.3) | 424 (13.1) | 32 (10.7) | ||||
| 1997 | 442 (10.2) | 413 (12.8) | 46 (15.4) | ||||
| 1998 | 421 (9.7) | 421 (13.0) | 52 (17.4) | ||||
| 1999 | 385 (8.9) | 421 (13.0) | 48 (16.1) | ||||
| Death in the hospital, n (%) | Yes | 774 (17.8) | 812 (25.1) | 152 (50.8) | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | < 0.001 |
| No | 3,571 (82.2) | 2,423 (74.9) | 147 (49.2) | ||||
| ICU admission within 1 month of death, n (%) | Yes | 187 (4.3) | 213 (6.6) | 37 (12.4) | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | < 0.001 |
| No | 4,158 (95.7) | 3,022 (93.4) | 262 (87.6) | ||||
| More than 1 ER visit within 1 month of death, n (%) | Yes | 870 (20.0) | 857 (26.5) | 104 (34.8) | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | < 0.01 |
| No | 3,475 (80.0) | 2,378 (73.5) | 195 (65.2) | ||||
| Hospice admission, n (%) | None | 2,208 (50.8) | 1,668 (51.6) | 241 (80.6) | < 0.001 | < 0.001 | < 0.001 |
| Three or fewer days | 156 (3.6) | 198 (6.1) | 25 (8.4) | ||||
| Four or more days | 1,981 (45.6) | 1,369 (42.3) | 33 (11.0) | ||||
Abbreviation: vs., versus; IQR, interquartile range; ICU, intensive care unit; ER, emergency room.
*Chemotherapy includes standard chemotherapy or aggressive-approach chemotherapy