Table 2.
Characteristics of Patients and Family Members
| Patients | Family members | |
|---|---|---|
| Unique-evaluator characteristics: | ||
| Number of evaluators | 695 | 345 |
| Northwestern U.S. study site, n (%) | 403 (58.0) | 194 (56.2) |
| Race, n (%) | ||
| African American | 167 (24.0) | 81 (23.5) |
| Non-Hispanic white | 455 (65.5) | 217 (62.9) |
| Other minority | 73 (10.5) | 31 (9.0) |
| Not reported | 0 (0.0) | 16 (4.6) |
| Gender, n (%) | ||
| Male | 380 (54.7) | 94 (27.2) |
| Female | 315 (45.3) | 247 (71.6) |
| Not reported | 0 (0.0) | 4 (1.2) |
| Age, mean (SD)a | 65.4 (4.3) | 57.5 (13.6) |
| Education, n (%) | ||
| Eighth grade or less | 47 (6.8) | 6 (1.7) |
| Some high school | 74 (10.6) | 23 (6.7) |
| High school diploma or equivalent | 151 (21.7) | 61 (17.7) |
| Some college or trade school | 206 (29.6) | 121 (35.1) |
| Four-year college degree | 94 (13.5) | 67 (19.4) |
| Graduate or professional school | 97 (14.0) | 47 (13.6) |
| Not reported | 26 (3.7) | 20 (5.8) |
| Average monthly pre-tax income, past year, n (%) | ||
| ≤$500 | 33 (4.7) | |
| $501–$1000 | 129 (18.6) | |
| $1,001–$1,500 | 84 (12.1) | |
| $1,501–$2,000 | 64 (9.2) | |
| $2,001–$3,000 | 70 (10.1) | |
| $3,001–$4,000 | 61 (8.8) | |
| $4,001+ | 148 (21.3) | |
| Not reported | 106 (15.3) | |
| Seen in inpatient or outpatient setting | ||
| Inpatient | 522 (75.1) | 294 (85.2) |
| Outpatient | 171 (24.6) | 51 (14.8) |
| Both | 2 (0.3) | 0 (0.0) |
| Diagnosed withb., n (%) | ||
| Advanced cancer | 176 (25.3) | |
| Advanced lung disease | 48 (6.9) | |
| Congestive heart failure | 61 (8.8) | |
| End-stage liver disease | 52 (7.5) | |
| Autoimmune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) | 25 (3.6) | |
| Family member also completed evaluation, n (%) | 202 (29.1) | |
| # Evaluations per evaluator, median (range) | 1 (1–2) | 1 (1–2) |
| Evaluation-specific characteristics: | ||
| Number of evaluations | 731 | 355 |
| Single-item self-rated health status, median (IQR)c | 2 (2) | |
| Rating of quality of end-of-life care,d mean (SD) | 8.3 (1.9) | 8.4 (2.0) |
| Rating of quality of communication, mean (SD) | ||
| General communicatione | 8.5 (1.9) | 8.5 (2.0) |
| End-of-life communicationf | 4.6 (3.2) | 5.3 (3.4) |
Ages were reported by only 322 of the 345 family members.
Of the patients completing surveys, 49.1% had none of the five diagnoses listed, 49.8% had one, and 1.2% had two.
Respondent's rating of current health (reversed scoring): 1=poor, 2=fair, 3=good, 4=very good, 5=excellent. Ratings were provided on 693 surveys.
Ten-item scale applicable to all respondent types; computed as the mean of available items from the 10-item pool, with original response range 0 (poor) to 10 (absolutely perfect). Scores were available from 725 patient surveys and 352 family member surveys.
Six-item scale computed as mean of available items: 0 (very worst) to 10 (very best). Scores were available from 704 patient surveys and 344 family member surveys.
Seven-item scale computed as mean of available items: 0 (very worst) to 10 (very best). Scores were available from 623 patient surveys and 300 family member surveys.
SD, standard deviation; IQR, interquartile ratio.