TABLE 2.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ENROLLED SURROGATES
| Characteristic |
Total (N=271) |
Without optimistic prognostic expectations (N=124) |
With optimistic prognostic expectations (N=121) |
pa | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, year | Mean 52.6, SD 13.2 | Mean 52.0, SD 13.2 |
Mean 52.9, SD 13.0 |
0.566 | |
| Sex (male) | 85 (31.4) | 38 (31.2) | 37 (30.8) | 0.999 | |
| Hispanic | 23 (8.5) | 9 (7.4) | 14 (11.7) | 0.280 | |
| Race White Black Asian Native American Multiracial |
210 (79.6) 28 (10.6) 15 (5.7) 2 (0.8) 9 (3.4) |
102 (85.7) 7 (5.9) 4 (3.4) 2 (1.7) 4 (3.4) |
84 (71.8) 19 (16.2) 9 (7.7) 0 5 (4.3) |
0.018 | |
| Education Some high school or less than high school High school graduate Some college College graduate Post graduate, graduate, professional education |
19 (7.0) 73 (26.9) 68 (25.1) 58 (21.4) 53 (19.6) |
7 (5.7) 29 (23.8) 30 (24.6) 28 (23.0) 28 (23.0) |
10 (8.3) 35 (29.1) 31 (25.8) 25 (20.8) 19 (15.8) |
0.567 | |
| Main Language English Other language |
249 (92.2) 21 (7.8) |
114 (93.4) 8 (6.6) |
108 (90.8) 11 (9.2) |
0.481 | |
| Religion Catholic Other Christian Other Atheist/None/No affiliation |
77 (30.4) 126 (49.8) 11 (4.4) 39 (15.4) |
34 (29.6) 57 (49.6) 3 (2.6) 21 (18.3) |
35 (31.8) 56 (50.9) 6 (5.5) 13 (11.8) |
0.448 | |
| Importance of religion Very important Fairly important Somewhat important Not at all important |
132 (48.9) 86 (31.9) 32 (11.9) 20 (7.4) |
54 (44.3) 39 (32.0) 16 (13.1) 13 (10.7) |
68 (57.1) 34 (28.6) 13 (10.9) 4 (3.4) |
0.072 | |
| Relationship to patient Spouse/partner Child Sibling Parent Other |
106 (39.1) 86 (31.7) 25 (9.2) 41 (15.1) 13 (4.8) |
42 (34.4) 38 (31.2) 16 (13.1) 19 (15.6) 7 (5.7) |
55 (45.8) 40 (33.3) 6 (5.0) 15 (12.5) 4 (3.3) |
0.106 | |
| Lipkus numeracy scale (score 0–11, higher score indicates better understanding of math and probability) | Mean 6.6, SD 3.2 | Mean 7.1, SD 2.9 |
Mean 6.2, SD 3.3 |
0.020 | |
| STOFHLA (score 0–36, higher score indicates more health literacy) | Mean 33.4, SD 6.1 | Mean 33.7, SD 5.4 |
Mean 33.1, SD 6.7 |
0.460 | |
| LOTR (score 0–24, higher score indicates more optimistic) | Mean 16.8, SD 3.9 | Mean 16.5, SD 3.8 |
Mean 17.2, SD 3.9 |
0.162 | |
| PHQ9 (score 0–27, higher score indicates more severe depression) | Mean 7.3, SD 4.9 | Mean 8.0, SD 4.8 |
Mean 6.0, SD 4.7 |
0.002 | |
| GAD7 (score 0–21, higher score indicates more anxiety) | Mean 8.3, SD 5.3 | Mean 8.9, SD 5.3 |
Mean 7.2, SD 5.0 |
0.012 | |
| Had prior conversation with the patient about advance care planning | 191 (70.7) | 80 (65.6) | 91 (76.5) | 0.067 | |
| Has past experience as a surrogate decision-maker | 145 (53.7) | 66 (54.6) | 64 (53.3) | 0.897 | |
| Self-rating in knowing what the patient wants (score 0–10, higher score indicates knowing the patient’s wants very well) | Mean 8.3, SD 2.3 | Mean 8.2, SD 2.4 |
Mean 8.6, SD 2.2 |
0.255 | |
| Wake Forest Physician Trust Scale | Mean 21.7, SD 3.6 |
Mean 21.8, SD 3.7 |
Mean 21.5, SD 3.6 |
0.542 |
271 surrogate completed baseline questionnaire. Physician-surrogate discordance score cannot be determined in 30 surrogates (4 of which did not complete the baseline questionnaire).
Definitions of abbreviations: STOFHLA = Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults; LOTR = Revised Life Orientation Test; PHQ9 = Patient Health Questionnaire-9; GAD7 = Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item; SER= Survival Expectancy Ratio
Data are presented as no. (%) unless otherwise noted.
a
Comparison tests used were t-test and Fisher’s exact test, comparing surrogates with optimistic prognostic expectations to those without optimistic prognostic expectations.