Table 2. Characteristics of the sample (N = 1258).
| Characteristic | N (%) a |
|---|---|
| Age (M, SD) | 64.3 (3.7) |
| Gender | |
| Male | 639 (50.8) |
| Female | 619 (49.2) |
| Ethnicity | |
| White | 1206 (95.9) |
| Black and minority ethnic | 48 (3.8) |
| Missing | 4 (.3) |
| Education | |
| Some qualifications | 831 (66.1) |
| No qualifications | 378 (30.0) |
| Missing | 49 (3.9) |
| Marital status | |
| Married or living as married | 831 (66.1) |
| Not married or living as married | 427 (33.9) |
| Perceived stress (M, SD) | 2.62 (1.35) |
| Cancer fear | |
| None | 337 (26.8) |
| Moderate | 570 (45.3) |
| High | 351 (27.9) |
| Cancer information avoidance (yes) | |
| Reading stories about cancer | 202 (16.1) |
| Watching TV programmes about cancer | 241 (19.2) |
| Talking to others about cancer | 104 (8.3) |
a
Unless otherwise stated.