TABLE 1.
Participant demographics and baseline characteristics
| Variable | Patients |
| N = 1507 | |
| Mean (SD) age a , years | 46.9 (16.22) |
| Mean (SD) age of retired ITP patients, years (n = 278) | 68.2 (7.66) |
| Female, n (%) | 975 (65) |
| Median (IQR) length of time with ITP, years | 5 (2–12) |
|
Patient self‐reported current health state (n = 1503) (7‐point Likert scale; 7 is excellent health), n (%) |
|
| 1–3 (low) | 225 (15) |
| 4 | 321 (21) |
| 5–7 (high) | 957 (64) |
| Route of patient recruitment, n (%) | |
| Patient association group‐invited | 855 (57) |
| Physician‐invited | 652 (43) |
| Splenectomized, n (%) (n = 1325) | 263 (20) |
| Symptom burden at diagnosis, n (%) (n = 1234) | |
| Low | 374 (30) |
| Moderate | 270 (22) |
| High | 282 (23) |
| Very high | 308 (25) |
| Current employment status, n (%) | |
| Working full‐time | 661 (44) |
| Working part‐time | 235 (16) |
| Retired | 278 (18) |
| Homemaker | 102 (7) |
| Student | 68 (5) |
| Not working, not seeking employment | 66 (4) |
| On long‐term sick leave or on disability | 48 (3) |
| Not working, seeking employment | 37 (2) |
| Other (no details) | 12 (1) |
| Physicians | |
| N = 472 | |
| Specialty, n (%) | |
| Hematology | 313 (66) |
| Hematology‐oncology | 159 (34) |
| Current ITP caseload | |
| Low (0–11 patients) | 154 (33) |
| Moderate (12–30 patients) | 146 (31) |
| High (31+ patients) | 172 (36) |
| Patient caseload (ITP and non‐ITP), mean (SD) | 454 (643) |
| ITP patient caseload, mean (SD) | |
| ITP patients at time of survey completion | 34 (50) |
| ITP patients in the 12 months prior to survey completion | 43 (70) |
| Newly‐diagnosed ITP patients in the 12 months prior to survey completion | 18 (36) |
| Clinical setting, n (%) | |
| University/teaching hospital | 265 (56) |
| Regional/community hospital | 121 (26) |
| Private hospital | 39 (8) |
| Specialist cancer center | 32 (7) |
| Other | 9 (2) |
| Office‐based | 6 (1) |
| Year qualified, n (%) | |
| Before 1981 | 11 (2) |
| 1981–1993 | 95 (20) |
| 1994–2003 | 172 (36) |
| 2004–2014 | 171 (36) |
| After 2014 | 23 (5) |
a
N = 1506.
Abbreviation: ITP, immune thrombocytopenia; IQR, interquartile range.