Table I.
Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics at T1 according to Type D personality.
| N (%) | All (n = 1735) | NA-/SI- (n = 911) | NA-/SI+ (n = 297) | NA+/SI- (n = 199) |
NA+/SI+ (n = 328) |
p-Valuea |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex (Female) | 743 (43%) | 383 (42%) | 110 (37%) | 92 (46%) | 158 (48%) | 0.03 |
| Age [mean (SD)] | 68.4 (9.4) | 68.8 (9.1) | 68.4 (9.2) | 66.6 (10.5) | 68.5 (9.8) | 0.03 |
| Years since diagnosis [mean (SD)] | 5.1 (2.8) | 5.1 (2.9) | 5.4 (2.8) | 5.1 (2.7) | 5.0 (2.7) | 0.21 |
| Tumor type Colon Rectal |
1031 (59%) 704 (41%) |
558 (61%) 353 (34%) |
171 (58%) 126 (42%) |
112 (56%) 87 (44%) |
190 (58%) 138 (42%) |
0.42 |
| Stage I II III IV |
522 (31%) 610 (36%) 503 (30%) 55 (3%) |
267 (30%) 327 (37%) 264 (30%) 30 (3%) |
100 (35%) 93 (32%) 91 (32%) 5 (2%) |
63 (32%) 59 (30%) 60 (31%) 13 (7%) |
92 (29%) 131 (42%) 88 (28%) 7 (2%) |
0.03 |
| Chemotherapy (yes) | 516 (30%) | 265 (29%) | 88 (30%) | 67 (34%) | 96 (29%) | 0.64 |
| Radiotherapy (yes) | 562 (32%) | 277 (30%) | 107 (36%) | 68 (36%) | 110 (34%) | 0.27 |
| Number of comorbid conditions None One Two or more |
422 (25%) 501 (30%) 736 (44%) |
239 (28%) 273 (32%) 353 (41%) |
95 (33%) 92 (32%) 99 (35%) |
33 (17%) 51 (27%) 108 (56%) |
55 (17%) 85 (27%) 176 (56%) |
< 0.001 |
| Partner (yes) | 1357 (79%) | 706 (78%) | 247 (84%) | 158 (81%) | 246 (75%) | 0.05 |
| Educational level Low Middle High |
285 (17%) 1055 (61%) 383 (22%) |
138 (15%) 560 (62%) 206 (23%) |
48 (16%) 169 (57%) 79 (27%) |
29 (15%) 123 (63%) 44 (22%) |
70 (21%) 203 (62%) 54 (17%) |
0.02 |
| Quality of life [mean (SD)] Global quality of life Physical functioning Role functioning Emotional functioning Cognitive functioning Social functioning Fatigue Nausea Pain Dyspnea Insomnia Appetite loss Constipation Diarrhea Financial problems |
78.9 (17.7) 82.3 (19.0) 82.0 (26.0) 86.8 (18.6) 85.3 (20.3) 87.1 (21.6) 20.1 (22.1) 3.2 (10.5) 15.6 (23.8) 12.6 (23.3) 20.3 (27.8) 4.2 (13.5) 8.6 (19.2) 10.6 (21.5) 7.0 (19.1) |
83.3 (15.4) 84.7 (17.7) 85.9 (23.8) 94.0 (10.4) 90.1 (15.3) 91.3 (18.1) 15.6 (19.6) 2.3 (9.4) 12.5 (21.8) 9.9 (20.8) 15.9 (24.8) 2.5 (10.4) 6.7 (16.8) 8.5 (19.2) 5.3 (16.9) |
82.0 (15.4) 84.7 (17.4) 85.3 (23.0) 91.6 (13.1) 87.7 (17.6) 90.9 (16.7) 16.0 (18.7) 2.5 (8.9) 12.8 (20.6) 10.5 (21.1) 15.8 (24.0) 3.3 (13.5) 8.7 (18.7) 9.6 (19.9) 4.1 (15.0) |
70.5 (19.0)b 77.0 (20.7)b 73.4 (29.0)b 71.9 (22.3)b 75.6 (25.9)b 79.0 (24.2)b 31.2 (25.0)b 5.7 (14.1)b 22.1 (27.1)b 19.5 (27.7)b 32.8 (34.1)b 8.0 (19.0)b 11.2 (22.7) 13.8 (24.6)b 12.2 (23.9)b |
69.1 (19.3)b 77.0 (21.1)b 73.3 (29.2)b 71.3 (23.3)b 75.6 (25.1)b 77.0 (27.4)b 29.9 (24.4)b 4.7 (11.8) 22.7 (27.3)b 18.1 (26.9)b 29.3 (30.6)b 7.3 (16.1)b 11.7 (22.8)b 15.4 (25.5)b 11.4 (23.4)b |
< 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 |
| EORTC QLQ-CR38 [mean (SD)] Body image Future perspectives Sexual functioning Sexual enjoyment Micturition problems Chemotherapy side effects Gastrointestinal problems Male sexual problemsc Female sexual problemsc Defecation problems Stoma-related problems Weight loss |
84.7 (21.7) 72.8 (27.1) 24.4 (23.1) 58.7 (27.7) 21.4 (17.5) 10.4 (15.5) 15.4 (14.5) 43.4 (37.6) 23.6 (24.8) 13.2 (12.6) 23.5 (21.2) 4.5 (14.1) |
89.0 (18.0) 79.5 (23.3) 26.0 (23.8) 61.9 (26.8) 19.6 (17.0) 8.3 (13.2) 12.6 (12.6) 40.2 (37.4) 22.6 (25.8) 11.5 (11.3) 20.2 (19.7) 3.6 (12.3) |
86.9 (19.3) 77.6 (23.5) 23.8 (21.7) 56.4 (26.4) 20.2 (17.1) 8.1 (12.5) 15.4 (13.8) 44.7 (36.4) 20.3 (20.5) 12.6 (11.9) 18.0 (17.8) 4.2 (13.5) |
75.5 (27.3) 58.2 (30.9) 23.5 (22.7) 59.4 (29.7) 26.0 (18.5) 14.0 (17.3) 22.1 (15.8) 45.9 (40.3) 27.3 (26.3) 16.7 (13.1) 30.9 (20.5) 7.0 (17.3) |
76.0 (24.8) 58.8 (28.8) 21.0 (22.4) 50.8 (28.7) 24.6 (17.8) 15.9 (20.1) 19.4 (16.9) 49.9 (37.4) 27.5 (24.3) 16.9 (15.1) 32.9 (24.4) 5.9 (16.5) |
< 0.001 < 0.001 0.02 < 0.01 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.001 0.04 0.51 < 0.001 < 0.001 < 0.01 |
| HADS [mean (SD)] Anxiety Depression |
4.5 (3.7) 4.0 (3.4) |
2.9 (2.6) 2.7 (2.4) |
3.4 (2.6) 3.2 (2.7) |
7.4 (3.7) 5.8 (3.5) |
7.8 (3.8) 7.0 (4.0) |
< 0.001 < 0.001 |
Only those who completed two or more questionnaires were included in the analyses.
A higher score on the EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-CR38 functional scales, global QOL scale and single items (i.e. body image, sexual functioning, sexual enjoyment and future perspective) represent a higher level of function. For the symptom scales and single items, a higher score represents a higher level of symptoms.
ap-Value represents the difference between the four personality groups; bClinically relevant differences between the Type D group (NA+ SI+) and the reference group (NA-SI-) and between the NA only group (NA+ SI-) and the reference group (NA-SI-) according the guidelines [20]; cthis question was filled out by a small number of patients.