Table 1.
Descriptive Statistics by Whether Participants Talked to Their Doctor About the End of Life (N = 5,199).
| Total sample (N = 5,199) |
Talked to doctor (n = 310) |
Did not talk to doctor (n = 4,889) |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measure | M (SD) or proportion | M (SD) or proportion | M (SD) or proportion | Comparison statistics |
| Type of FACP None | χ2 = 77.82*** | |||
| None | .12 | .01 | .12 | |
| Informal plans only | .16 | .07 | .17 | |
| Both formal and informal plans | .66 | .88 | .65 | |
| Formal plans only | .06 | .04 | .06 | |
| Trust in doctora | χ2 = 12.29** | |||
| Strongly disagree,disagree or neutral | .16 | .12 | .16 | |
| Agree | .51 | .46 | .51 | |
| Strongly agree | .33 | .41 | .33 | |
| Health care utilization | ||||
| Saw doctor in past year | .96 | .98 | .96 | χ2 = 5.58* |
| Seen in ER in past year | .19 | .23 | .19 | χ2 = 2.64 |
| Years seeing same doctor | 11.55 (9.36) | 12.65 (9.35) | 11.48 (9.34) | t = -2.13* |
| Current health | ||||
| Good, very good,or excellent selfreported health | .98 | .97 | .98 | χ2 = .90 |
| Depressive symptoms (0 = lowest to 140 = highest) | 15.65 (14.87) | 14.93 (13.89) | 15.70 (15.99) | t = .09 |
| Has had a stroke | .06 | .06 | .05 | χ2 = .23 |
| Has been diagnosed with heart disease | .25 | .31 | .25 | χ2 = 6.29* |
| Has been diagnosed with cancer | .18 | .21 | .18 | χ2 = 1.12 |
| Recent experience of spouse death | χ2 = 2.57 | |||
| No spouse loss (reference) | .94 | .94 | .94 | χ2 = 2.57 |
| Slight or no physical pain | .03 | .04 | .03 | |
| Severe or moderate physical pain | .03 | .02 | .03 | |
| Recent experience of parent death | χ2 = 8.79* | |||
| No parent loss (reference) | .86 | .91 | .85 | |
| Slight or no physical pain | .09 | .05 | .09 | |
| Severe or moderate physical pain | .06 | .04 | .06 | |
| Sociodemographic characteristics Total assetsb | US$670,448.60 | US$786,839.00 | US$663,068.50 | t = -2.00* |
| (US$1,055,065) | (US$1,245,538) | (US$1,041,525) | ||
| Education | ||||
| High school only (reference) | .65 | .54 | .65 | χ2 = 17.20*** |
| Some college or associate's degree | .03 | .03 | .03 | χ2 = 0.11 |
| College degree or more education | .32 | .43 | .32 | χ2 = 16.97*** |
| Marital status | χ2 = 7.88** | |||
| Married | .76 | .67 | .74 | |
| Gender | ||||
| Male | .47 | .46 | .47 | χ2 = 0.10 |
| Agec (years) | 71.27 (2.94) | 71.33 (3.27) | 71.27 (2.92) | t = -0.33 |
Source. Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (1957–2013).
Note. Statistics reported prior to skew adjustment and standardization and after multiple imputation; statistics reported on thirdimputation. t and chi-square tests were used to evaluate significant differences between groups.
FACP = family advance care planning;
ER = emergency room.
a
“To what extent do you agree that you have complete trust tin your doctor?”
b
Total assets is middle-coded at US$0 and middle-coded at US$10,000,000.
c
Due to disability status, some respondents may be eligible for Medicare before age 62.
*
p < .05
**
p < .01
***
p < .001