Table 3. Multinomial regressions with the degree of self-assessed awareness (know a lot versus know a little) about palliative care predicting the likelihood of a) agreeing versus disagreeing, b) agreeing versus responding “don’t know,” and c) disagreeing versus responding “don’t know” for knowledge and belief items.
Agree vs. Disagree (ref) | Agree vs. Don’t know (ref) | Disagree vs. Don’t know (ref) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RRR | p value | RRR | p value | RRR | p value | |
Knowledge of palliative care | ||||||
The goal of palliative care is to help friends and family to cope with a patient’s illness. | 0.81 | .591 | 5.11 | .001 | 6.29 | .003 |
The goal of palliative care is to manage pain and other physical symptoms. | 8.45 | .001 | 9.28 | .001 | 1.10 | .919 |
The goal of palliative care is to offer social and emotional support. | 1.71 | .336 | 6.22 | .002 | 3.63 | .104 |
The goal of palliative care is to give patients more time at the end of life. | 0.62 | .016 | 3.15 | .002 | 5.08 | < .001 |
Palliative care is the same as hospice care. | 0.90 | .611 | 14.82 | < .001 | 16.39 | < .001 |
If you accept palliative care, you must stop other treatments. | 1.03 | .925 | 4.71 | < .001 | 4.59 | < .001 |
Beliefs about palliative care | ||||||
Accepting palliative care means giving up. | 0.93 | .765 | 15.70 | .002 | 16.94 | .001 |
When I think of "palliative care," I automatically think of death. | 0.92 | .669 | 9.25 | < .001 | 10.03 | < .001 |
It is a doctor’s obligation to inform all patients with cancer about the option of palliative care. | 0.39 | .005 | 2.48 | .037 | 6.34 | .001 |
Notes. RRR = relative risk ratio. Bold type indicates accurate knowledge and positive beliefs. Analyses controlled for demographic and medical factors (i.e., age, gender, education, race, ethnicity, and personal and family history of cancer).