Table 1.
Demographic, disease and treatment characteristics of sample
| Variable | Category | Oncology (n = 2096) n (%) | Haematology (n = 715) n (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | Male | 808 (39%) | 408 (57%) |
| Age | Less than 65 | 1187 (58%) | 416 (59%) |
| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin | Yes | 29 (1.4%) | 7(1.0%) |
| Marital status | Married or partnered | 1355 (66%) | 469 (66%) |
| Single, divorced, separated or widowed | 711 (34%) | 239 (34%) | |
| Highest level of education | High school or below | 1030 (50%) | 321 (46%) |
| Vocational training, university or other | 1026 (50%) | 384 (54%) | |
| Birth place | Australia | 1441 (70%) | 495 (70%) |
| Other | 627 (30%) | 214 (30%) | |
| Health insured | Yes | 861 (42%) | 374 (52%) |
| Concession card | Yes | 1190 (58%) | 399 (56%) |
| Smoking status | Current smoker | 206 (10%) | 59 (8.3%) |
| Former smoker | 882 (43%) | 265 (37%) | |
| Never smoked | 975 (47%) | 389 (55%) | |
| Location of residence | City | 1229 (59%) | 665 (94%) |
| Regional or remote | 844 (41%) | 39 (5.5%) | |
| Living arrangements | With others | 1647 (80%) | 564 (80%) |
| Employment | Paid employment | 641 (31%) | 244 (34%) |
| Retired | 847 (41%) | 266 (37%) | |
| No paid employment (home duties, unemployed or disability pension) | 570 (28%) | 200 (28%) | |
| Cancer type | Breast | 727 (36%) | |
| Colorectal | 332 (16%) | ||
| Lung | 171 (8.4%) | ||
| Melanoma | 59 (2.9%) | ||
| Other cancer or more than 1 | 564 (28%) | 357 (50%) | |
| Myeloma | 26 (1.3%) | 148 (21%) | |
| Non-Hodgkin lymphoma | 46 (2.3%) | 203 (29%) | |
| Prostate | 117 (5.7%) | ||
| Time since diagnosis | 12 months or less | 992 (48%) | 203 (29%) |
| 13 to 24 months | 354 (17%) | 121 (17%) | |
| Over 24 months | 723 (35%) | 383 (54%) | |
| Treatments ever received | Surgery | 1475 (71%) | 146 (21%) |
| Chemotherapy | 1684 (82%) | 575 (82%) | |
| Radiotherapy | 1003 (51%) | 163 (23%) | |
| Hormone therapy | 489 (25%) | 16 (2.2%) | |
| Biological therapy | 250 (13%) | 49 (6.9%) | |
| Bone marrow transplant | 6 (0.3%) | 100 (14%) | |
| Stem cell | 17 (0.9%) | 153 (21%) | |
| Other* | 30 (1.5%) | 55 (7.7%) | |
| Cancer stage | Early | 1113 (62%) | 208 (30%) |
| Advanced | 507 (28%) | 166 (24%) | |
| Do not know or in remission, or not applicable | 163 (9.1%) | 322 (46%) |
*Numbers reported for each variable may not add to total sample size due to missing data