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