Table 1.
Patient characteristics
| Choice for dialysis (n = 75) |
Choice for conservative care (n = 24) |
P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean age (years) | 79.8 ± 4.3 | 84.2 ± 4.9 | < 0.001 |
| Female | 21 (28%) | 11 (46%) | 0.10 |
| Davies comorbidity score | 0.88 | ||
| No comorbidity | 9 (12%) | 2 (8%) | |
| Intermediate comorbidity | 44 (59%) | 15 (63%) | |
| Severe comorbidity | 22 (29%) | 7 (29%) | |
| Currently living with partner | 48/70 (69%)a | 10/23 (44%)a | 0.03 |
| Stated to be religious | 55/74 (74%)a | 17 (71%) | 0.74 |
| Education levelb | 0.15 | ||
| Primary education | 16/73 (22%)a | 10 (42%) | |
| Secondary education | 44/73 (60%)a | 10 (42%) | |
| Tertiary education | 13/73 (18%)a | 4 (17%) | |
| Time since original treatment decision | 0.04 | ||
| < 6 months | 7 (9%) | 8 (33%) | |
| 6–12 months | 18 (24%) | 4 (17%) | |
| 12–24 months | 21 (28%) | 5 (21%) | |
| > 24 months | 29 (39%) | 7 (29%) | |
| Current treatment modality |
41 (55%) pre-dialysis 24 (32%) hemodialysis 10 (13%) peritoneal dialysis |
24 (100%) conservative care | |
| Median number of consultations about preferred treatment between patient and healthcare team |
4 (interquartile range: 3–5; minimum: 2; maximum: 14) |
2 (interquartile range: 1–6; minimum: 1; maximum: 11) |
0.002 |
| Interviewer-administration of questionnaire | 26 (35%) | 6 (25%) | 0.38 |
Values are numbers (%) unless stated otherwise
athe total number of patients is lower due to missing answers for this variable
beducation level is based on the International Standard Classification of Education [53]