Table 3.
Therapeutic alliance and its relationship to key patient, caregiver, and clinician factors: exploratory regression modeling results
| Therapeutic Alliance, Unadjusted, Mean (SD)* | P Value | Regression Model β (95% CI)† | P Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patient age, yr | 0.046 | — | — | |
| <55 | 55 (7) | |||
| ≥55 | 51 (7) | |||
| Patient Charlson Comorbidity Index score | 0.009 | 4.74 (2.29–7.18) | <0.001 | |
| <2 Comorbidities | 55 (6) | |||
| ≥2 Comorbidities | 49 (7) | |||
| Patient APACHE II score | 0.033 | — | — | |
| <20 | 54 (6) | |||
| ≥20 | 50 (9) | |||
| Caregiver social support | 0.001 | — | — | |
| High | 55 (6) | |||
| Low | 48 (8) | |||
| Caregiver report that treatment reflected patient wishes | 0.004 | — | — | |
| Yes | 55 (5) | |||
| No or unsure | 50 (8) | |||
| Caregiver trust in ICU team | <0.001 | 4.43 (1.70–7.18) | 0.002 | |
| High | 56 (4) | |||
| Low | 47 (8) | |||
| Caregiver report of conflict with ICU team | 0.045 | — | — | |
| Low or none | 55 (6) | |||
| Moderate or high | 51 (8) | |||
| Caregiver report of quality of communication | <0.001 | 5.97 (2.76–9.2) | <0.001 | |
| High | 55 (5) | |||
| Low | 44 (7) | |||
| Caregiver report of decisional conflict | 0.001 | 4.21 (0.95–7.47) | 0.012 | |
| Low | 54 (6) | |||
| High | 46 (8) |
Definition of abbreviations: APACHE = Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation; CI = confidence interval; HADS = Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; HCS = Human Connection Scale; ICU = intensive care unit; PTSS = post-traumatic stress scale.
Relationship between HCS score and variable; P value from paired t tests. Variables not included in modeling because HCS–variable r < 0.2: caregiver age, faith, health literacy, active coping use, caregiver burden, caregiver quality of life, HADS anxiety score, HADS depression score, HADS total score, and PTSS score.
Relationship between HCS score and key variables using stepwise regression model adjusted for variables shown; constant = 44.05 (40.73–47.37), P < 0.001.