Table 3.
Baseline Patient Characteristics Associated with Accuracy of Patient-Recalled Physician Life-Expectancy Estimate within/outside 12 Months
| Patient characteristic | Accuracy within 12 months (N = 63; 74.1%) | Accuracy outside 12 months (N = 22; 25.9%) | p* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sociodemographics | |||
| Mean age ± SD (N) | 62.1 ± 11.0 (63) | 56.0 ± 14.1 (22) | 0.044 |
| Gender, n (%) | 0.457 | ||
| Male | 33 (52.4) | 14 (63.6) | |
| Female | 30 (47.6) | 8 (36.4) | |
| Family income> = $31,000, n (%) | 25 (62.5) | 13 (68.4) | 0.775 |
| Marriage status, n (%) | 42 (66.7) | 16 (76.2) | 0.587 |
| Insurance, n (%) | 43 (70.5) | 17 (77.3) | 0.593 |
| Mean education ± SD (N) | 12.7 ± 3.9 (63) | 13.9 ± 4.9 (22) | 0.244 |
| Race, n (%) | 0.496 | ||
| White | 50 (79.4) | 16 (72.7) | 0.559 |
| Black | 5 (7.9) | 2 (9.1) | 1.000 |
| Hispanic | 7 (11.1) | 3 (13.6) | 0.714 |
| Asian | 0 (0.0) | 1 (4.5) | 0.259 |
| Religion, n (%) | 0.003 | ||
| Catholic | 41 (65.1) | 5 (22.7) | <0.001 |
| Protestant | 9 (14.3) | 6 (27.3) | 0.199 |
| Jewish | 1 (1.6) | 3 (13.6) | 0.052 |
| Muslim | 1 (1.6) | 0 (0.0) | 1.000 |
| No religion | 3 (4.8) | 1 (4.5) | 1.000 |
| Pentecostal | 1 (1.6) | 0 (0.0) | 1.000 |
| Baptist | 3 (4.8) | 0 (0.0) | 0.565 |
| Recruitment site, n (%) | |||
| Yale Cancer Center | 0 (0.0) | 1 (4.5) | 0.259 |
| Simmons Center | 2 (3.2) | 3 (13.6) | 0.107 |
| Parkland Hospital | 16 (25.4) | 6 (27.3) | 1.000 |
| Dana Farber and Massachusetts General | 7 (11.1) | 5 (22.7) | 0.283 |
| New Hampshire Oncology Hematology | 38 (60.3) | 7 (31.8) | 0.027 |
| Cancer type, n (%) | 0.196 | ||
| Lung | 14 (22.6) | 3 (13.6) | 0.539 |
| Pancreatic | 9 (14.5) | 0 (0.0) | 0.104 |
| Gallbladder | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | — |
| Colon | 8 (12.9) | 3 (13.6) | 1.000 |
| Brain | 2 (3.2) | 0 (0.0) | 1.000 |
| Stomach | 2 (3.2) | 1 (4.5) | 1.000 |
| Esophageal | 3 (4.8) | 0 (0.0) | 0.563 |
| Mean performance status ± SD (N) | |||
| Karnofsky score | 59.8 ± 15.2 (61) | 69.5 ± 17.9 (22) | 0.017 |
| Zubrod score | 2.0 ± 0.8 (61) | 1.7 ± 0.9 (22) | 0.096 |
| Charlson index | 9.3 ± 2.9 (62) | 7.3 ± 2.1 (22) | 0.003 |
| Mean McGill quality of life ± SD (N) | |||
| Physical functioninga | 4.8 ± 2.7 (62) | 6.5 ± 2.2 (22) | 0.012 |
| Symptomsa | 4.4 ± 2.0 (62) | 5.9 ± 2.2 (22) | 0.004 |
| Psychologicala | 6.6 ± 2.8 (62) | 7.2 ± 2.3 (22) | 0.319 |
| Depressedb | 3.3 ± 3.3 (62) | 2.6 ± 2.7 (22) | 0.381 |
| Worriedb | 3.7 ± 3.4 (62) | 2.5 ± 2.9 (22) | 0.129 |
| Sadb | 3.7 ± 3.3 (62) | 2.9 ± 2.7 (22) | 0.311 |
| Terrifiedb | 3.1 ± 3.2 (62) | 3.0 ± 2.6 (21) | 0.852 |
| Supporta | 8.4 ± 1.8 (62) | 7.5 ± 2.6 (22) | 0.141 |
| Sum score of QoLa | 6.1 ± 1.6 (62) | 6.8 ± 1.8 (22) | 0.061 |
| Doctor–patient relationship, n (%) | |||
| Trust your doctor | 62 (98.4) | 21 (95.5) | 0.453 |
| Respect your doctor | 62 (98.4) | 22 (100.0) | 1.000 |
| Doctor respect your patient | 63 (100.0) | 22 (100.0) | — |
| Seen as a whole person | 58 (93.5) | 19 (90.5) | 0.640 |
| Mean comfortable asking questions about care ± SD (N) | 0.9 ± 0.2 (63) | 0.9 ± 0.2 (22) | 0.527 |
| Therapeutic alliance | 44 (69.8) | 17 (77.3) | 0.591 |
| Mean general self-efficacy ± SD (N) | 32.4 ± 4.3 (61) | 34.3 ± 4.0 (21) | 0.103 |
| Mean active brief coping ± SD (N) | 1.5 ± 0.8 (63) | 1.7 ± 1.0 (21) | 0.261 |
| Mean emotional brief coping ± SD (N) | 2.6 ± 0.7 (63) | 2.5 ± 0.7 (21) | 0.607 |
| Mean behavioral brief coping ± SD (N) | 0.3 ± 0.5 (63) | 0.2 ± 0.6 (21) | 0.672 |
| Peacefulness | 39 (62.9) | 14 (66.7) | 0.799 |
| Positive religious coping, mean ± SD (N) | 10.4 ± 6.1 (63) | 8.9 ± 7.2 (21) | 0.346 |
| Negative religious coping, mean ± SD (N) | 1.3 ± 2.5 (61) | 2.0 ± 3.2 (20) | 0.910 |
| Total religious coping, mean ± SD (N) | 11.7 ± 7.2 (61) | 11.2 ± 9.0 (20) | 0.799 |
*
For binary outcomes, Fisher's exact test was used; for continuous outcomes, t-test or Wilcoxon Kruskal–Wallis test was used.
a
Higher score indicates better health status.
b
Higher score indicates worse psychological status.