Table 1.
Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of (A) 2007 people (B) 1001 patients with cancer who participated in a survey about attitudes toward early palliative care
| Variables | Cancer patient n = 1001 | Family caregiver n = 1006 |
|---|---|---|
| (A) | ||
| Gender | ||
| Male | 390 (39.0) | 324 (32.2) |
| Female | 610 (61.0) | 682 (67.8) |
| Age, years | ||
| <50 | 334 (33.4) | 596 (59.2) |
| ≥50 | 667 (66.6) | 409 (40.8) |
| Caregiver relationship with patient | ||
| Parents, grandparents, sibling, relatives | NA | 196 (19.5) |
| Children, grandchildren, children‐in‐law | 490 (48.7) | |
| Spouse | 320 (31.8) | |
| Level of education | ||
| Middle school or less | 205 (20.6) | 75 (7.4) |
| High school | 433 (43.5) | 401 (39.9) |
| College or higher | 358 (35.9) | 530 (52.7) |
| Marital status | ||
| Single/separated/widowed/divorced | 212 (21.1) | 195 (19.4) |
| Married | 789 (78.9) | 811 (80.6) |
| Current job status | ||
| No | 737 (74.1) | 569 (56.6) |
| Yes | 257 (25.9) | 437 (43.4) |
| Presence of religion | ||
| No | 462 (46.3) | 494 (49.1) |
| Yes | 536 (53.7) | 512 (50.9) |
| Monthly income (in 1000 Korean won) | ||
| <2000 | 260 (26.0) | 117 (11.6) |
| 2000–2999 | 196 (19.6) | 183 (18.2) |
| 3000–3999 | 217 (21.7) | 260 (25.8) |
| ≥4000 | 328 (32.7) | 446 (44.4) |
| Type of insurance | ||
| National Health Insurance | 931 (93.1) | 941 (93.7) |
| Medical aid | 69 (6.9) | 63 (6.3) |
| Presence of private insurance | ||
| Yes | 717 (71.8) | 878 (87.5) |
| No | 282 (28.2) | 126 (12.5) |
| Comorbidity | ||
| Yes | 70 (7.0)a | 77 (7.7) |
| No | 931 (93.0) | 929 (92.3) |
| Caregiver experienceb | ||
| Yes | 233 (23.3) | 990 (98.4) |
| No | 766 (76.7) | 16 (1.6) |
| (B) | ||
| Cancer type | ||
| Stomach cancer | 147 (14.7) | NA |
| Lung cancer | 104 (10.4) | |
| Hepato‐pancreato‐biliary cancer | 101 (10.1) | |
| Colorectal cancer | 128 (12.8) | |
| Breast cancer | 229 (22.9) | |
| Hematologic malignancy | 106 (10.6) | |
| Othersc | 184 (18.4) | |
| Time from diagnosis to survey | ||
| Mean ± SD, months | 26.7 ± 33.1 | NA |
| ≥5 years | 121 (12.1) | NA |
| <5 years | 878 (87.9) | |
| Stage | ||
| I | 148 (14.8) | NA |
| II | 303 (30.3) | |
| III | 325 (32.5) | |
| IV | 157 (15.7) | |
| Other | 68 (6.7) | |
| Treatment status | ||
| Diagnosis ~ treatment (in progress) | 715 (71.5) | NA |
| Treatment (completed) ~ remission | 243 (24.3) | |
| Not cured or terminal | 42 (4.2) | |
| ECOG performance status | ||
| 0 | 285 (28.5) | NA |
| 1 | 510 (51.0) | |
| 2–4 | 205 (20.5) | |
| Experience of ER visit due to cancer | ||
| Yes | 294 (29.4) | NA |
| No | 705 (70.6) | |
| Experience of ICU admission due to cancer | ||
| Yes | 219 (21.9) | NA |
| No | 780 (78.1) | |
NA, not applicable; SD, standard deviation; ECOG, the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; ER, emergency room; ICU, intensive care unit.
For patients with cancer, we counted the number of nonmalignant comorbidities including human immunodeficiency virus infection, chronic disease including diabetes mellitus, hypertension, lung disease, liver disease, heart failure, kidney disease, and arthritis (rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis), stroke, Parkinson's disease, dementia, and incurable genetic and neurologic disorders.
Caregiver experience means the presence of illness experience of loved one.
Others include cancers of uterus, ovary, prostate, genitourinary except prostate, testis, central nervous system, head and neck, esophagus, and thyroid, germ cell tumor, osteosarcoma, skin cancer (melanoma, nonmelanoma), and neuroendocrine tumor.