Table 1.

Demographic and clinical characteristics of rectal cancer survivors (N = 567)^a

Characteristics	Permanent ostomy (n= 176)	Sphincter-sparing (n = 324)	Temporary ostomy (n = 67)	p value
Sex, women	34.1	44.8	37.3	0.21
Mean age at survey, years	74.9	73.1	69.6	0.003
Race
White	88.1	81.5	88.1	0.55
African American	2.8	3.4	1.5
Asian, Pacific Islander	6.3	9.9	6.0
Other	0.6	1.9	3.0
Unknown	2.3	3.4	1.5
Education level
Less than high school	4.6	7.1	1.5	0.0006
High school	32.4	16.4	22.4
Some college	33.0	25.4	35.8
College graduate	13.1	22.5	7.5
Graduate school	11.9	18.3	21.0
Unknown	5.1	10.5	11.9
Household income, $US
< 30,000	33.0	25.3	25.4	0.34
30,000 to 75,000	38.6	39.8	47.8
> 75,000	21.0	25.9	19.4
Unknown	7.4	9.0	7.5
Body mass index at survey completion, kg/m2
≤ 26	57.4	54.0	49.3	0.17
27–29	19.9	17.9	16.4
≥ 30	21.6	25.9	34.3
Data missing	1.1	2.2	0
Charlson-Deyo comorbidity index
0	51.7	63.6	59.7	0.07
1	19.3	20.4	11.9
≥ 2	29.0	16.1	28.4
Year of first rectal cancer-directed surgery
1989 or earlier	12.5	7.7	4.5	0.82
1990–1994	14.8	15.1	9.0
1995–1999	21.0	27.5	23.9
2000–2001	10.2	15.7	14.9
2002–2009	30.7	30.9	44.8
Data missing	10.8	3.1	3.0
Tumor stage
Localized	44.9	51.5	50.8	0.06
Regional	48.9	45.4	46.3
Metastatic	1.1	0.6	1.5
Unknown	5.1	2.5	1.5
Tumor distance to anal verge, cm
0–4	31.8	2.8	6.0	< 0.0001
5–9	34.1	18.5	47.8
10–14	8.5	36.1	22.4
15–19	3.4	20.4	6.0
≥ 20	0.6	6.5	1.5
Data missing	21.6	15.7	16.4
Other clinical characteristics
Chemotherapy	56.8	45.7	53.7	0.78
History of radiation therapy	47.2	31.5	49.3	0.85

^aData are percentages except for mean age.