Table 1.
Sociodemographic and Clinical Characteristics of Patients With Advanced Cancer Attending the Palliative Care Unit of CHBAH
| Patient Characteristics | N = 191 (%) |
|---|---|
| Age in yrs (mean ± SD) | 57.64 ± 13.26 |
| Gender | |
| Male | 85 (44.50) |
| Female | 106 (55.50) |
| Marital status | |
| Single | 62 (32.50) |
| Married/partner | 77 (40.30) |
| Divorced/separated | 13 (6.80) |
| Widowed | 39 (20.40) |
| Race | |
| Black | 171 (89.50) |
| Colored | 15 (7.90) |
| Indian | 1 (0.50) |
| White | 4 (2.10) |
| Highest level of education | |
| No education/primary | 66 (34.60) |
| Secondary education and above | 125 (65.40) |
| Employment status | |
| Unemployed | 163 (85.30) |
| Employed (including self-employed, informal trading) | 28 (14.70) |
| Site of primary tumor Breast | |
| Breast | 54 (28.30) |
| Lung | 60 (31.40) |
| Gastrointestinal Tract and hepatobiliary | 74 (38.70) |
| Sarcoma and melanoma | 3 (1.60) |
| Distance from CHBAH in Km, median (IQR) | 10.34 (6.07–20.65) |
| Comorbidities | |
| Diabetes | 14 (7.30) |
| Hypertension | 65 (34.00) |
| Cardiac disease/stroke | 5 (2.60) |
| Asthma/COPD | 10 (5.20) |
| Tuberculosis | 23 (12.00) |
| HIV positive | 50 (26.20) |
| Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group at baseline (by interviewer) | |
| 0–2 | 138 (72.30) |
| 3–4 | 53 (27.70) |
| Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group at baseline (by caregiver) | |
| 0–2 | 114 (59.70) |
| 3–4 | 77 (40.30) |
| Pain medicationsa | |
| Step 1 (nonopioids, paracetamol) | 25 (13.70) |
| Step 2 (tramadol, codeine phosphate) | 64 (35.20) |
| Step 3 (morphine) | 93 (51.10) |
| Missing data | 9 |
| Patient’s illness understanding | |
| Relatively healthy | 61 (31.94) |
| Relatively healthy but terminally ill | 4 (2.09) |
| Seriously ill but not terminally ill | 115 (60.21) |
| Seriously and terminally ill | 11 (5.76) |
| Time between diagnosis of cancer and deatha | |
| Less than 3 months | 76 (40.00) |
| Three to 6 months | 41 (21.58) |
| More than 6 months | 73 (38.42) |
| Time between enrollment and death, days, median (IQR) | 59 (19–121) |
| Time between enrollment and death (months) a | |
| Less than 1 month | 69 (36.32) |
| One to less than 3 months | 53 (27.89) |
| Three to less than 6 months | 30 (15.79) |
| Six months or more | 38 (20.00) |
| Last APCA POS factor score, median (IQR), mean | |
| Physical and psychosocial (0–15), 0 (best), 15 (worst) | 7.00 (4.0–10.0), 6.77 |
| Interpersonal (0–10), 0 (worst), 10 (best) | 8.00 (7.0–10.0), 7.93 |
| Existential (0–10), 0 (worst), 10 (best) | 8.0 (5.0–10.0), 7.00 |
| Preferred place of death | |
| Hospital, or other institution (hospice, nursing home) | 64 (33.51) |
| Home | 127 (66.49) |
CHBAH = Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital; IQR = interquartile range; COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; APCA POS = African Palliative Care Association Palliative Outcome Scale.
a
Missing values for the variables are as follows: pain medications (n = 9), time between diagnosis of cancer and death (n = 1), time between enrollment and death (n = 1).