Table 5:
Predictors of desirability scores 128 health care professionals gave to supportive care (relative to chemotherapy), by attribute used during threshold tasks
| Predictor | Quality of life*, units (SE) | p value | Survival time*, mo (SE) | p value | Probability of cure*, % (SE) | p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic of respondent | ||||||
| Male sex | −0.94 (0.46) | 0.04 | −1.09 (0.59) | 0.07 | −1.79 (1.01) | 0.08 |
| Age, yr | 0.01 (0.02) | 0.59 | 0.01 (0.02) | 0.59 | 0.05 (0.04) | 0.25 |
| Experience with pediatric cancer, yr | 0.01 (0.02) | 0.64 | 0.01 (0.03) | 0.76 | 0.07 (0.04) | 0.11 |
| Physician v. other health care professional | 0.32 (0.58) | 0.59 | 0.52 (0.69) | 0.45 | −1.08 (0.90) | 0.23 |
| Opinion of others | ||||||
| Parent prefers intravenous chemotherapy | −1.61 (0.20) | < 0.0001 | −2.49 (0.27) | < 0.0001 | −2.97 (0.37) | < 0.0001 |
| Parent prefers supportive care alone | 1.54 (0.16) | < 0.0001 | 1.49 (0.22) | < 0.0001 | 1.77 (0.28) | < 0.0001 |
| Child prefers intravenous chemotherapy | −2.85 (0.21) | < 0.0001 | −3.70 (0.29) | < 0.0001 | −4.16 (0.37) | < 0.0001 |
| Child prefers supportive care alone | 2.32 (0.17) | < 0.0001 | 2.54 (0.20) | < 0.0001 | 2.50 (0.30) | < 0.0001 |
Note: SE = standard error
*
Change needed to be associated with chemotherapy for the respondent to find chemotherapy worthwhile. For example, in the quality-of-life analysis, 1.54 for “Parent prefers supportive care alone” means that respondents would require an increase of 1.54 units of quality-of-life to be associated with chemotherapy before they would find chemotherapy worthwhile.