Table 1.
Study Participant Demographics
| Characteristics | Patients (n=267) |
Family Members (n=267) |
Overall (n= 534) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gender, female N (%) | 122 (45.7) | 201 (75.3) | 323 (60.5) |
| Age, mean ± SD, years | 63.8 ± 13.4 | 55.9 ± 13.9 | 59.9 ± 14.2 |
| Race/Ethnicity (%) | |||
| Hispanic | 11 (4.3) | 12 (4.6) | 23 (4.5) |
| Black | 50 (19.7) | 44 (17.0) | 94 (18.3) |
| White | 183 (72.1) | 195 (75.3) | 378 (73.7) |
| Other | 10 (3.9) | 8 (3.1) | 18 (3.5) |
| Patient Disease Category (%) | |||
| Cardiac | 72 (27.0) | ||
| Pulmonary | 61 (22.9) | ||
| Cancer | 83 (31.1) | ||
| Renal | 51 (19.1) | ||
| Education (%) | |||
| <8th grade | 7 (2.6) | 2 (0.8) | 9 (1.7) |
| Some HS | 16 (6.0) | 8 (3.0) | 24 (4.5) |
| HS or GED | 78 (29.3) | 65 (24.3) | 143 (26.8) |
| Some College or tech | 83 (31.2) | 86 (32.2) | 169 (31.7) |
| College Grad | 42 (15.8) | 63 (23.6) | 105 (19.7) |
| Graduate School | 40 (15.0) | 43 (16.1) | 83 (15.6) |
| Marital Status (%) | |||
| Never married | 31 (11.7) | 38 (14.3) | 69 (13.0) |
| Married | 166 (62.6) | 184 (69.2) | 350 (65.9) |
| Divorced/separated | 31 (11.7) | 22 (8.3) | 53 (10.0) |
| Widowed | 27 (10.2) | 10 (3.8) | 37 (7.0) |
| Domestic Partnership | 6 (2.3) | 9 (3.4) | 15 (2.8) |
| Other | 4 (1.5) | 3 (1.1) | 7 (1.3) |
| Prior experience with ACP (%)* | |||
| Almost none | 26 (9.8) | 34 (12.7) | 60 (11.3) |
| A little | 98 (36.8) | 97 (36.3) | 195 (36.6) |
| A fair amount | 96 (36.1) | 95 (35.6) | 191 (35.8) |
| A lot | 46 (17.3) | 41 (15.4) | 87 (16.3) |
| Already have an AD† | 121 (45.8) | 80 (30.0) | 201 (37.9) |
| Assigned a Proxy | 152 (58.0) | 102 (38.5) | 254 (48.2) |
| Helped someone else prepare AD | 55 (20.8) | 80 (30.3) | 135 (25.6) |
| Helped a family member with medical decision making | 186 (69.9) | ||
| Prior ACP conversations | |||
| “The patient is my…” | |||
| Spouse/partner | 152 (56.9) | ||
| Parent | 64 (24.0) | ||
| Sibling | 9 (3.4) | ||
| Son/Daughter | 11 (4.1) | ||
| Other | 31 (11.6) | ||
| Lives with patient | 182 (68.4) | ||
| Own a computer (%) | 194 (73.8) | 222 (83.2) | |
| Hours/week using computer, median (Q1, Q3) | 6.0 (1.0, 15.0) | 10.0 (3.5, 30.0) | 8.0 (2.0, 20.0) |
*
“How much have you read or heard about advance care planning or living wills (i.e. documents that formally communicate your wishes regarding health care)?”
†
“Prior to enrollment in this study, had you prepared an advance directive/living will for yourself?”