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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Jan 1.
Published in final edited form as: Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2012 Oct 3;85(1):e1–e6. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2012.08.018

Table 1.

Demographic and clinical characteristics of participants by patients’ discussions of CAM therapies with RO (n=305)

Demographic and clinical variables No. of participants
(% of total)
No. of patients who discussed
CAM with their ROs
%* P value
Total 305 (100%) 37 12.1%
Age (y) .30
 <55 92 (30.2%) 11 12.0%
 55-65 118 (38.7%) 18 15.3%
 >65 95 (31.1%) 8 8.4%
Sex .20
 M 160 (52.5%) 23 14.4%
 F 145 (47.5%) 14 9.7%
Race/ethnicity .10
 White 231 (75.7%) 24 10.4%
 Nonwhite 74 (24.3%) 13 17.6%
Educational level .28
 High school or less 88 (28.9%) 12 13.6%
 College 150 (49.2%) 14 9.3%
 Graduate or professional school 67 (22.0%) 11 16.4%
Employment .016
 Not full-time employed 191 (62.6%) 29 15.2%
 Full-time 106 (34.8%) 6 5.7%
Marital status .74
 Not currently married 106 (34.8%) 12 11.3%
 Married/partnered 199 (65.2%) 25 12.6%
Self-reported rating of general health
 Excellent 49 (16.1%) 4 8.2%
 Very good 88 (28.9%) 9 10.2%
 Good 95 (31.1%) 16 16.8%
 Fair 51 (16.7%) 5 9.8%
 Poor 18 (5.9%) 2 11.1%
Cancer type .001
 Other cancers§ 191 (62.6%) 21 11.0%
 Prostate cancer 54 (17.7%) 14 25.9%
 Breast cancer 60 (19.7%) 2 3.3%
Cancer stage .92
 I 73 (23.9%) 9 12.3%
 II 73 (23.9%) 7 9.6%
 III 77 (25.2%) 10 13.0%
 IV 58 (19.0%) 7 12.1%
Surgery .37
 No 152 (49.8%) 21 13.8%
 Yes 152 (49.8%) 16 10.5%
Chemotherapy .33
 No 145 (47.5%) 20 13.8%
 Yes 158 (51.8%) 16 10.1%
CAM use <.001
 No 169 (55.4%) 10 5.9%
 Yes 133 (43.6%) 27 20.3%
Participatory decision making score .72
 <70 198 (64.9%) 25 12.6%
 ≥70 90 (29.5%) 10 11.1%

Abbreviations: CAM = complementary and alternative medicine; RO = radiation oncologist.

*

Percentage of patients reporting CAM discussions with RO in a specific demographic category.

Based on χ2 test.

19.7% black/African-American, 2.6% Asian, 0.7% Hispanic/Latino, 1.3% reported “other.”

§

18.0% head/neck, 15.1% gastrointestinal, 13.4% lung, 16.1% genitourinary/skin/other