Table 1. Characteristics by Randomized Terminology Frame in 2054 Participants.
| Characteristic | No. (%) | |
|---|---|---|
| Papillary Thyroid Cancer Frame (n = 1029) | Papillary Lesion Frame (n = 1025) | |
| Age, y | ||
| 18-34 | 302 (29.3) | 320 (31.2) |
| 35-49 | 307 (29.8) | 285 (27.8) |
| 50-64 | 244 (23.7) | 236 (23.0) |
| ≥65 | 176 (17.1) | 184 (18.0) |
| Sex | ||
| Male | 508 (49.4) | 485 (47.3) |
| Female | 521 (50.6) | 540 (52.7) |
| State of residence | ||
| New South Wales | 337 (32.8) | 337 (32.9) |
| Victoria | 243 (23.6) | 272 (26.5) |
| Queensland | 227 (22.1) | 182 (17.8) |
| Australian Capital Territory | 16 (1.6) | 17 (1.7) |
| Tasmania | 31 (3.0) | 19 (1.9) |
| South Australia | 65 (6.3) | 93 (9.1) |
| Northern Territories | 9 (0.9) | 7 (0.7) |
| Western Australia | 101 (9.8) | 98 (9.6) |
| Highest level of education | ||
| Intermediate school certificate or less | 120 (11.7) | 108 (10.5) |
| Higher school certificate | 176 (17.1) | 172 (16.8) |
| Trade certificate or college diploma | 298 (28.9) | 327 (31.8) |
| Undergraduate or postgraduate degree | 435 (42.3) | 418 (40.8) |
| Current employment status | ||
| Full-time | 373 (36.2) | 357 (34.8) |
| Part-time | 196 (19.0) | 201 (19.6) |
| No paid joba | 433 (42.1) | 432 (42.2) |
| Household income, yearly before tax, $ | 183 (17.8) | 199 (18.6) |
| <35 000 | ||
| 35 000-65 000 | 215 (20.9) | 208 (20.3) |
| 65 001-95 000 | 193 (18.8) | 191 (18.6) |
| 95 001-125 000 | 148 (14.4) | 145 (14.1) |
| 125 001-150 000 | 73 (7.1) | 72 (7.0) |
| >150 000 | 84 (8.2) | 80 (7.8) |
| Prefer not to say | 133 (12.9) | 130 (12.7) |
| Relationship status | ||
| Married or living with partner | 643 (62.5) | 617 (60.2) |
| Widowed, divorced, or separated | 122 (11.9) | 124 (12.1) |
| Single, never married | 260 (25.3) | 278 (27.1) |
| Other | 4 (0.4) | 6 (0.6) |
| Main language spoken at home | ||
| English | 974 (94.7) | 966 (94.2) |
| Other language | 55 (5.3) | 59 (5.8) |
| Private health insurance | ||
| Yes | 565 (54.9) | 565 (55.1) |
| No | 456 (44.3) | 448 (43.7) |
| Do not know | 8 (0.8) | 12 (1.2) |
| Diagnosed with a thyroid nodule or lump | ||
| Yes | 53 (5.2) | 23 (2.2) |
| No | 950 (92.3) | 979 (95.5) |
| Do not know | 26 (2.5) | 23 (2.2) |
| Personal cancer diagnosisb | ||
| Yes | 89 (8.6) | 90 (8.8) |
| No | 933 (90.7) | 930 (90.7) |
| Do not know | 7 (0.7) | 5 (0.5) |
| Immediate family member diagnosed with cancerc | ||
| Yes | 447 (43.4) | 428 (41.8) |
| No | 565 (54.7) | 575 (56.1) |
| Do not know | 19 (1.8) | 22 (2.1) |
| Cancer worryd | ||
| Not worried at all | 256 (24.9) | 272 (26.5) |
| A bit worried | 588 (57.1) | 559 (54.5) |
| Quite worried or very worried | 185 (18.0) | 194 (19.0) |
| Self-rated general health | ||
| Excellent | 122 (11.9) | 129 (12.6) |
| Very good | 373 (36.2) | 378 (36.9) |
| Good | 367 (35.7) | 338 (33.0) |
| Fair | 132 (12.8) | 141 (13.8) |
| Poor | 35 (3.4) | 39 (3.8) |
| General anxiety (mean score)e | 41.2 | 41.3 |
| Health literacy screenerf | ||
| Adequate health literacy | 908 (88.2) | 913 (89.1) |
| Limited/marginal health literacy | 121 (11.8) | 112 (11.0) |
| Numeracy (mean score)g | 4.04 | 4.07 |
Includes not employed at the moment, family caring/home duties, retired, and studying full time.
Other than thyroid cancer because people diagnosed with thyroid cancer were not eligible to participate in the study.
Immediate family included parents, siblings, or children.
A validated single item that measures level of worry about developing cancer, using 4 response categories ranging from not worried at all to very worried.31,32,33,34
State trait anxiety inventory (short form), on a scale from 20 to 80, with higher scores indicating greater levels of anxiety.26,35
Single item screener to measure health literacy skills.27
Five expanded numeracy scale items from the Objective Numeracy Scale, with higher scores out of 5 indicating higher numeracy.28