Table 1.
Characteristics of Participants
| Patients (n=30) N (%) or mean±SD | Surrogates (n=30) N (%) or mean±SD | |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | ||
| Male | 16 (53) | 10 (33) |
| Female | 14 (47) | 20 (67) |
| Race | ||
| Caucasian/White | 26 (87) | 26 (87) |
| African American/Black | 4 (13) | 4 (13) |
| Age, years, mean (SD) | 58±18 | 53±13 |
| Relationship to patient | ||
| Spouse/partner | – | 13 (43) |
| Child | – | 11 (37) |
| Sibling | – | 1 (3) |
| Parent/Step-parent | – | 4 (13) |
| Friend | – | 1 (3) |
| Admission diagnosis | ||
| Respiratory failure | 17 (57) | – |
| Cardiac failure or shock | 7 (23) | – |
| Neurologic failure | 6 (20) | – |
| Site | ||
| Academic tertiary care hospital | 17 (57) | – |
| Academically affiliated Community hospital | 13 (43) | – |
| Days in ICU | 10±8 (range 1–35) | – |
| Died during this hospitalization | 15 (50) | – |
| Highest level education | ||
| Less than high school | – | 2 (7) |
| High school diploma or GED | – | 7 (23) |
| Some college | – | 4 (13) |
| Completed college | – | 7 (23) |
| 1 or more years of post graduate | – | 2 (7) |
| Graduate or professional degree | – | 8 (27) |
| Annual household income | ||
| >$40,000 | – | 6 (20) |
| ≥$40,000 | – | 22 (73) |
| Decline to answer | – | 2 (7) |
| Religion affiliation | ||
| Protestant Christian | – | 16 (53) |
| Roman Catholic | – | 8 (27) |
| Jewish | – | 1 (3) |
| Buddhist | – | 1 (3) |
| No religious affiliation | – | 2 (7) |
| Other/No response | – | 2 (7) |
| Importance of religion | ||
| Very important | – | 19 (63) |
| Somewhat important | – | 8 (27) |
| Not important | – | 2 (7) |
| No response | 1 (3) | |
| Has a living willa | 9 (30) | – |
a
Assessed via surrogate questionnaire.
With kind permission from Springer Science & Business Media. See reference 19.