Table 2.
Medical student characteristics by tertile of composite moral distress score
| Characteristics | n with data | All | Lowest Tertilea of Composite Moral Distress (0–17) |
Middle Tertilea of Composite Moral Distress (18–35) |
Highest Tertilea of Composite Moral Distress (36–95) |
p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year in Medical School | 199 | < 0.01 | ||||
|
Mid-Major Clinical Year(n, %) |
57 (29%) | 38 (62%) | 18 (26%) | 1 (1%) | ||
|
Post-Major Clinical Year (n, %) |
142 (71%) | 23 (38%) | 51 (74%) | 68 (99%) | ||
| Age (median, IQR) | 197 | 26 (25–28) | 26 (24–27) | 26 (25–27) | 27 (25–28) | 0.08 |
| Female gender (n, %) | 205 | 121 (59%) | 33 (49%) | 40 (58%) | 48 (71%) | 0.03 |
| Race/Ethnicity (n, %) | 202 | 0.90 | ||||
| Non-Hispanic White | 122 (60%) | 38 (56%) | 40 (60%) | 44 (66%) | ||
| Non-Hispanic Black | 12 (6%) | 4 (6%) | 4 (6%) | 4 (6%) | ||
| Hispanic | 17 (8%) | 7 (10%) | 6 (9%) | 4 (6%) | ||
| East Asian | 26 (13%) | 10 (15%) | 9 (13%) | 7 (11%) | ||
| Indian Subcontinent | 10 (5%) | 2 (3%) | 3 (4%) | 5 (7%) | ||
| Other | 15 (7%) | 7 (10%) | 5 (7%) | 3 (5%) | ||
| Religion is moderately or very important in daily life (n, %) | 205 | 50 (24%) | 16 (24%) | 19 (28%) | 15 (22%) | 0.74 |
| Experience caring for older adults in a clinical setting | 209 | < 0.01 | ||||
| Little or none (n, %) | 51 (24%) | 26 (37%) | 17 (24%) | 8 (12%) | ||
| Some (n, %) | 135 (65%) | 40 (57%) | 46 (66%) | 49 (71%) | ||
| A lot (n, %) | 23 (11%) | 4 (6%) | 7 (10%) | 12 (17%) | ||
| Present for hospitalization of elderly relative (n, %) | 209 | 124 (59%) | 35 (50%) | 45 (64%) | 44 (64%) | 0.15 |
| Very close relationship with elderly relatives or non-relatives (n, %) | 198 | 78 (39%) | 25 (38%) | 26 (39%) | 27 (41%) | 0.94 |
| UCLA Geriatrics Attitude Scale Score (median, IQR) (range 1–5, 5 most positive) | 208 | 3.7 (3.4–4.0) | 3.6 (3.1–3.9) | 3.7 (3.4–4.0) | 3.8 (3.4–4.1) | 0.05 |
aTertile 1 ranges from 0 to 11 (n = 70), tertile 2 ranges from 18 to 35 (n = 70), tertile 3 ranges from 36 to 95, (n = 69)