Table 2.

Factors of importance in chemotherapy decision making^a

Factor	Older group mean (SD)	Younger group mean (SD)	P-valueb
Reducing the risk of the cancer coming back	9.3 (0.5)	9.3 (0.8)	0.44
Having a doctor whose expertise I trust	9.2 (0.5)	9.2 (0.6)	0.49
Understanding the benefits and side effects	9.2 (0.7)	8.5 (1.3)	0.02
Understanding what is going to happen during treatment	9.2 (0.6)	8.1 (2.2)	0.02
Returning to my normal quality of life after treatment	9.1 (0.6)	9.3 (0.8)	0.10
Having a doctor whom I feel comfortable asking questions of	9.1 (0.6)	9.0 (1.0)	0.68
Maintaining a good quality of life during treatment	9.1 (0.7)	8.1 (2.0)	0.04
The recommendation of the doctor	9.0 (0.9)	8.6 (1.2)	0.19
Increasing my chance of living longer	8.9 (1.3)	8.5 (1.6)	0.17
Doing everything possible to fight the cancer	8.9 (1.3)	8.4 (2.7)	0.71
Fear of dying from cancer	8.9 (1.3)	4.8 (3.2)	<0.001
How unwell I am to start with	8.5 (1.5)	6.0 (3.6)	0.03
Having someone to look after me during treatment	7.9 (2.5)	6.8 (2.8)	0.13
Maintaining my independence	7.8 (2.5)	8.4 (1.5)	0.70
Being able to look after significant others	7.5 (3.1)	7.5 (2.5)	0.97
How old I am	7.5 (3.1)	5.0 (3.8)	0.009
Having time to decide about treatment	7.3 (2.9)	7.7 (2.9)	0.28
Avoiding side effects	6.7 (3.2)	6.2 (3.3)	0.45
The opinion of my family	6.7 (3.6)	6.0 (3.0)	0.21
Total duration of the treatment	5.8 (3.3)	6.8 (3.5)	0.25
Cost of treatment	5.5 (3.6)	5.5 (3.6)	0.81
How far I would have to travel for treatment	3.8 (2.8)	5.5 (4.0)	0.05
Mean score of all factors	8.0 (1.0)	7.4 (1.4)	0.27

Notes:

^aRanked highest to lowest for older group, based on 10-point visual analog scale;

^bP-values based on Mann–Whitney rank sum tests.

Abbreviation: SD, standard deviation.