Table 1.
Characteristics of patients in the pre‐evidence and post‐evidence cohorts
| Variable | Pre‐evidence (n = 337), n (%) | Post‐evidence (n = 415), n (%) | p value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age at referral | |||
| Mean ± SD | 64.9 ± 14.5 | 65.1 ± 13.7 | .97 |
| Median (range) | 66.2 (19.9–92.2) | 67.0 (18.4–96.1) | |
| Patient sex | |||
| Male | 174 (51.6) | 196 (47.2) | .23 |
| Female | 163 (48.4) | 219 (52.8) | |
| Tumor site | |||
| Gastrointestinal | 87 (25.8) | 96 (23.1) | .08 |
| Lung | 49 (14.5) | 70 (16.9) | |
| Genitourinary | 37 (11.0) | 51 (12.3) | |
| Breast | 37 (11.0) | 27 (6.5) | |
| Gynecological | 35 (10.4) | 62 (14.9) | |
| Head and neck | 24 (7.1) | 39 (9.4) | |
| Hematological | 22 (6.5) | 24 (5.8) | |
| Central nervous system | 20 (5.9) | 16 (3.9) | |
| Other a | 26 (7.7) | 30 (7.2) | |
| Referring oncologist specialty | |||
| Medical oncology | 206 (62.0) | 271 (65.3) | .84 |
| Radiation oncology | 80 (24.1) | 87 (21.0) | |
| Surgical oncology | 25 (7.5) | 28 (6.7) | |
| Hematology | 17 (5.1) | 23 (5.5) | |
| Other b | 4 (1.2) | 6 (1.4) | |
| Referring oncologist sex | |||
| Male | 228 (68.7) | 228 (54.9) | .0001 |
| Female | 104 (31.3) | 187 (45.1) | |
| Reason for referral | |||
| Palliative planning and pain/symptom management | 181 (53.7) | 131 (31.6) | <.0001 |
| Palliative planning | 85 (25.2) | 43 (10.4) | |
| Pain/symptom management | 65 (19.3) | 241 (58.1) | |
| End‐of‐life care | 6 (1.8) | 0 (0.0) |
Note: Totals for the pre‐ and post‐evidence cohorts are n = 337 and n = 415, respectively, for all variables except referring oncologist specialty and referring oncologist sex (n = 332 pre‐evidence, n = 415 post‐evidence).
a
Other tumor sites included skin, sarcoma, endocrine, and unknown primary.
b
Other referring services included psychosocial oncology, internal medicine, anesthesia, and gastroenterology.