Table 4.
Demographic, Medical and Psychological measures compared across the response to PHQ Item: Thoughts of better off dead or ending your life. †
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||||||
| Not at all | Several days |
More than half the days |
Nearly every day |
ANOVA F |
p | Pairwise Comparisons |
|
| Demographics | n = 246-267 | n = 41-46 | n = 6 | n = 9-10 | |||
|
| |||||||
| Age in Years, mean (SD) | 60.8 (10.0) | 61.4 (11.5) | 59.6 (7.6) | 66.4 (9.7) | 1.05 | .369 | |
| Disease Duration in Years, mean (SD) |
1.00 (0.37) | 0.94 (0.40) | 0.94 (0.46) | 0.98 (0.32) | 0.29 | .831 | |
|
| |||||||
| Medical | n = 246-249 | n = 41-42 | n = 6 | n = 9 | |||
|
| |||||||
| Forced Vital Capacity, %, mean (SD) | 81.7 (21.4) | 73.2 (25.8) | 72.7 (26.0) | 71.7 (24.0) | 2.65 | .049 | |
| ALSFRS-R Total Score, mean (SD) | 37.3 (6.0) | 33.7 (5.9) | 35.5 (6.0) | 31.6 (6.8) | 7.78 | <.001* | 0>1, 3 |
| ALSFRS-R Domains | MANCOVA Wilks’ Lambda | 2.52 .003* |
|||||
| Bulbar, mean (SD) | 9.8 (2.3) | 8.9 (2.7) | 9.5 (2.3) | 9.4 (1.8) | 2.72 .045* |
||
| Fine motor, mean (SD) | 8.7 (2.4) | 8.2 (2.7) | 7.3 (4.8) | 7.3 (2.9) | 1.98 | .118 | |
| Gross Motor, mean (SD) | 8.2 (2.8) | 7.0 (2.8) | 7.3 (4.1) | 6.2 (2.3) | 3.97 .009* |
||
| Respiratory, mean (SD) | 10.6 (2.3) | 9.6 (2.9) | 11.3 (1.0) | 10.4 (2.5) | 3.86 .010* |
||
|
| |||||||
| Psychological Measures | n = 219-267 | n = 39-46 | n = 5-6 | n = 8-10 | |||
|
| |||||||
| Modified PHQ Total, mean (SD) | 3.5 (3.4) | 8.2 (4.5) | 10.1 (4.6) | 12.7 (8.0) | 41.28 | <.001* | 0<1, 2, 3;1<3 |
| PANAS | MANCOVA Wilks’ Lambda | 14.26 | < 001* | ||||
| PANAS: Positive Mood, mean (SD) |
33.6 (7.8) | 27.3 (7.7) | 29.1 (8.3) | 21.4 (7.4) | 13.40 | <.001* | 0<1, 3 |
| PANAS: Negative Mood, mean (SD) |
16.5 (5.6) | 22.2 (6.9) | 29.5 (11.4) | 26.3 (12.2) | 24.45 | <.001* | 0<1, 2, 3;1<2 |
| Beck Hopelessness Scale, mean (SD) |
2.4 (2.5) | 5.7 (2.7) | 8.6 (0.9) | 8.5 (1.7) | 38.96 | <.001* | 0<1, 2, 3;1<3 |
| Quality of Life Scale, mean (SD) |
40.0 (7.0) | 33.9 (7.2) | 31.3 (4.0) | 30.8 (10.7) | 16.08 | <.001* | 0<1, 2, 3 |
| GARS: Stress, mean (SD) | 19.7 (9.5) | 22.8 (8.7) | 29.3 (6.1) | 20.6 (9.1) | 3.52 .015* 2.03 |
||
| Manne | MANCOVA Wilks’ Lambda | .060 | |||||
| Manne: Positive partner support, mean (SD) |
21.9 (2.7) | 21.2 (3.3) | 21.8 (1.5) | 21.3 (1.0) | 0.74 | .526 | |
| Manne: Negative partner support, mean (SD) |
9.3 (3.3) | 11.2 (4.1) | 11.0 (2.9) | 9.9 (2.6) | 3.96 .009* |
0<1 | |
| Visual Analog Scales | MANCOVA Wilks’ Lambda | 7.19 | <.001* | ||||
| Depressed, mean (SD) | 2.5 (1.8) | 4.3 (2.1) | 7.2 (2.8) | 7.3 (1.6) | 33.48 | <.001* | 0<1, 2, 3;1<3 |
| Pleasure, mean (SD) | 6.8 (2.3) | 5.3 (2.0) | 4.0 (1.4) | 3.8 (1.4) | 10.80 | <.001* | 0<1,2, 3 |
| Suffering, mean (SD) | 3.1 (2.2) | 4.3 (2.2) | 7.4 (2.4) | 5.9 (2.6) | 13.38 | <.001* | 0<1,2,3;1<2 |
| Weary, mean (SD) | 4.2 (2.3) | 6.3 (2.7) | 9.0 (1.4) | 8.8 (1.8) | 22.63 | <.001* | 0<1,2, 3 |
| Nervous/Anxious, mean (SD) | 2.9 (2.0) | 5.2 (2.3) | 7.2 (3.1) | 6.4 (3.2) | 22.80 | <.001* | 0<1,2,3 |
| Hopeful, mean (SD) | 6.6 (2.5) | 4.5 (2.7) | 2.2 (0.8) | 1.8 (1.8) | 18.40 | <.001* | 0<1,2, 3 |
| Feels in Control of ALS, mean (SD) |
5.1 (2.9) | 4.3 (2.8) | 3.8 (2.7) | 3.3 (3.9) | 1.51 | .212 | |
| Supported by Family, mean (SD) | 9.4 (1.3) | 8.8 (1.8) | 9.8 (0.5) | 9.9 (0.4) | 2.76 | .043* | |
| Supported by Medical team, mean (SD) |
8.9 (1.8) | 8.5 (2.1) | 8.0 (1.9) | 8.5 (1.9) | 0.96 | .414 | |
| Wish to Hasten death, mean (SD) |
1.4 (1.2) | 2.8 (1.9) | 5.2 (3.5) | 8.1 (3.0) | 67.04 | <.001* | All |
| Importance of Religion, mean (SD) |
7.0 (3.3) | 6.5 (3.3) | 4.2 (2.8) | 6.0 (3.3) | 1.21 | .308 | |
| Overall Quality of Life, mean (SD) | 7.7 (1.9) | 5.3 (1.9) | 4.8 (1.1) | 4.4 (2.6) | 23.06 | <.001* | 0<1, 2, 3 |
†
Covariates are age, sex, duration of symptoms, education and race.
*
p<.05