Table 1.
Differences in patients’ demographic and clinical characteristics based on treatment status
| Characteristic | Total sample n = 174 |
Not on current treatment n = 126 72.4% |
Receiving treatment n = 48 27.6% |
Statistics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic characteristics | ||||
| Age (years, mean, SD) | 63.3 (11.0) | 64.2 (11.2) | 60.9 (10.1) | t = 1.79, p = 0.076 |
| Female (%, n) | 98.3 (171) | 99.2 (125) | 95.8 (46) | FE, p = 0.185 |
| Living arrangements (%, n) | ||||
| Private home or apartment | 98.8 (172) | 99.2 (125) | 97.9 (47) | Χ2 = 3.01, p = 0.222 |
| Assisted living facility | 0.6 (1) | 0.8 (1) | 0.0 (0) | |
| Other | 0.6 (1) | 0.0 (0) | 2.1 (1) | |
| Lives alone (% yes, n) | 31.6 (55) | 33.3 (42) | 27.1 (13) | FE, p = 0.470 |
| Married/partnered (% yes, n) | 59.8 (104) | 58.7 (74) | 62.5 (30) | FE, p = 0.730 |
| Number of people in your household including yourself (mean, SD) | 1.9 (0.9) | 1.8 (0.9) | 2.1 (0.9) | t = 1.45, p = 0.150 |
| Race/ethnicity | ||||
| White | 82.2 (143) | 85.6 (108) | 72.9 (35) | Χ2 = 9.48, p = 0.050 |
| Black or African American | 1.1 (2) | 1.6 (2) | 0.0 (0) | |
| Asian or Pacific Islander | 6.9 (12) | 4.8 (6) | 12.5 (6) | |
| Hispanic | 4.6 (8) | 2.4 (3) | 10.4 (5) | |
| Mixed ethnic background and other | 5.2 (9) | 5.6 (7) | 4.2 (2) | |
| Highest level of education | ||||
| High school | 2.9 (5) | 3.2 (4) | 2.1 (1) | U, p = 0.818 |
| Some college | 19.7 (34) | 19.2 (24) | 20.8 (10) | |
| College graduate | 24.3 (42) | 24.0 (30) | 25.0 (12) | |
| Some graduate school | 15.6 (27) | 15.2 (19) | 16.7 (8) | |
| Advanced degree | 37.5 (65) | 38.4 (48) | 35.4 (17) | |
| Annual household income | ||||
| < $20,000 | 5.5 (8) | 6.6 (7) | 2.5 (1) | U, p = 0.379 |
| $20,000 to $59,000 | 26.0 (38) | 27.4 (29) | 22.5 (9) | |
| $60,000 to $100,000 | 21.9 (32) | 20.8 (22) | 25.0 (10) | |
| > $100,000 | 46.6 (68) | 45.2 (48) | 50.0 (20) | |
| Currently employed (% yes, n) | 40.2 (70) | 39.7 (20) | 41.7 (20) | FE, p = 0.863 |
| Unemployed because of COVID-19 (% yes, n) | 13.6 (14) | 15.8 (12) | 7.4 (2) | FE, p = 0.346 |
| Clinical characteristics | ||||
| Body mass index (kg/m2, mean, SD) | 26.6 (5.4) | 26.1 (4.8) | 27.8 (6.7) | t = 1.55, p = 0.126 |
| Karnofsky Performance Status score (mean, SD) | 92.4 (9.3) | 93.5 (8.4) | 89.6 (10.7) | t = 2.54, p = 0.012 |
| Number of comorbidities (mean, SD) | 1.6 (1.4) | 1.5 (1.4) | 1.9 (1.4) | t = -1.35, p = 0.179 |
| Self-Administered Comorbidity Questionnaire score (mean, SD) | 3.3 (3.0) | 3.0 (2.9) | 4.1 (3.3) | t = − 2.14, p = 0.034 |
| Chronic conditions (%, n) | ||||
| Heart disease | 7.0 (12) | 8.0 (10) | 4.3 (2) | FE, p = 0.518 |
| High blood pressure | 29.7 (51) | 32.3 (40) | 22.9 (11) | FE, p = 0.267 |
| Lung disease | 5.9 (10) | 6.4 (8) | 4.4 (2) | FE, p = 1.000 |
| Diabetes | 4.1 (7) | 3.2 (4) | 6.5 (3) | FE, p = 0.390 |
| Ulcer or stomach disease | 3.5 (6) | 3.2 (4) | 4.3 (2) | FE, p = 0.662 |
| Kidney disease | 1.8 (3) | 2.4 (3) | 0.0 (3) | FE, p = 0.568 |
| Liver disease | 1.8 (3) | 0.8 (1) | 4.4 (2) | FE, p = 0.177 |
| Anemia or blood disease | 2.4 (4) | 1.6 (2) | 4.5 (2) | FE, p = 0.286 |
| Depression | 26.6 (45) | 23.8 (29) | 34.0 (16) | FE, p = 0.180 |
| Osteoarthritis, degenerative arthritis | 28.7 (49) | 26.2 (33) | 35.6 (16) | FE, p = 0.253 |
| Back pain | 32.4 (55) | 32.5 (40) | 31.9 (15) | FE, p = 1.000 |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 4.3 (7) | 5.0 (6) | 2.3 (1) | FE, p = 0.675 |
| Cancer diagnosis (%, n) | ||||
| Breast cancer | 79.6 (137) | 75.2 (94) | 91.5 (43) | FE, p = 0.111 |
| Gastrointestinal | 3.5 (6) | 4.0 (5) | 2.1 (1) | |
| Lung | 0.6 (1) | 0.8 (1) | 0.0 (0) | |
| Malignant melanoma | 0.6 (1) | 0.8 (1) | 0.0 (0) | |
| Gynecological | 5.2 (9) | 7.2 (9) | 0.0 (0) | |
| Prostate | 0.6 (1) | 0.0 (0) | 2.1 (1) | |
| Multiple cancer diagnoses or other | 9.9 (17) | 12.0 (15) | 4.3 (2) | |
| Presence of metastatic disease (% yes, n) | 25.9 (44) | 23.6 (29) | 31.9 (15) | FE, p = 0.328 |
| Time since cancer diagnosis (years, mean, SD) | 9.5 (6.7) | 11.0 (7.1) | 5.3 (3.0) | t = 7.28, p < 0.001 |
| Number of previous cancer treatments (mean, SD) | 3.0 (1.0) | 2.9 (0.9) | 3.3 (1.2) | t = -1.85, p = 0.068 |
| Number of current cancer treatments (mean, SD) | --- | --- | 1.04 (0.4) | --- |
| Receiving cancer treatments currently (%, n) | 27.6 (48) | |||
| Types of current treatments (for n = 48; %, n) | ||||
| Radiation therapy | 4.2 (2) | |||
| Chemotherapy | 14.6 (7) | |||
| Hormonal therapy | 81.3 (39) | |||
| Immunotherapy | 4.2 (2) | |||
| Targeted therapy | 0.0 (0) | |||
FE Fisher’s Exact test, kg kilograms, m2 meters squared, SD standard deviation, U Mann-Whitney U test