Table 5.
Summary of hierarchical regression analysis for variables predicting the extent of need for additional professional psychosocial and spiritual support when first entering SPC (T0) and during SPC (T1)
| Predictor variablesa | Model 1 ß |
Model 2 ß |
Model 3 ß |
Model 4 ß |
Model 5 ß |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score “Need for additional professional support at initiation of SPC” (T0, N = 314b) | |||||
| Age | −.01 | −.03 | −.05 | −.02 | −.02 |
| Gender (0, female; 1, male) | .01 | .15 | .01 | .02 | −.03 |
| Primary disease (0, non-cancer; 1, cancer) | −.12 | −.11 | −.10 | −.04 | |
| SPC setting (0, inpatient; 1, outpatient) | .17** | .17** | .21*** | .17*** | |
| Care site prior SPC (0, at home 1; nursing home/hospital) | −.04 | −.04 | −.04 | −.03 | |
| Having children (0, no; 1, yes) | −.03 | −.01 | −.01 | ||
| Living situation (0, living alone; 1, with relatives or relatives nearby) | −.08 | −.12* | −.09 | ||
| Physical symptom count (0–21) | .51*** | .33*** | |||
| Distress (DT; 0–10) | .10* | ||||
| Anxiety/depressive symptoms (PHQ-4; 0–12) | .33*** | ||||
| R2 | .00 | .04 | .05 | .30 | .40 |
| Adjusted R2 | −.01 | .03 | .03 | .28 | .38 |
| F for change in R2 | .04 | 4.4 | 1.4 | 109.73 | 26.02 |
| Score “Need for additional professional support during SPC (T1, N = 129b) | |||||
| Age | −.11 | −.13 | −.12 | −.14 | −.10 |
| Gender (0, female; 1, male) | .08 | .09 | .08 | .08 | .02 |
| Primary disease (0, non-cancer; 1, cancer) | −.18* | −.19* | −.19* | −.14 | |
| SPC setting (0, inpatient; 1, outpatient) | −.16 | −.15 | −.12 | −.10 | |
| Care site prior SPC (0, at home 1; nursing home/hospital) | −.08 | −.08 | −.07 | −.04 | |
| Having children (0, no; 1, yes) | −.03 | −.01 | .03 | ||
| Living situation (0, living alone; 1, with relatives or relatives nearby) | −.03 | −.07 | −.08 | ||
| Physical symptom count (0–21) | .21* | 1.0 | |||
| Distress (DT; 0–10) | 2.0* | ||||
| Anxiety/depressive symptoms (PHQ-4; 0–12) | .19 | ||||
| R2 | .02 | .08 | .08 | .12 | .19 |
| Adjusted R2 | .00 | .04 | .03 | .06 | .13 |
| F for change in R2 | 1.04 | 2.7 | .18 | 5.67 | 5.30 |
Hierarchical linear regression analysis (enter method). Step 1: demographic variables (age, sex), step 2: care-related variables (primary disease, SPC setting, care site prior SPC); step 3: proxy-variables for social support (children, living situation), step 4: Physical burden (physical symptom count), step 5: variables reflecting psychological burden (distress, anxiety/depressive symptoms)
Abbreviations: ß Standardized regression coefficients, SPC specialist palliative care, DT Distress Thermometer, PHQ-4 Patient Health Questionnaire 4-item version
a All potential predictor variables were measured at onset of specialist palliative care (T0), b Reduced sample size due to missing values (analyzed by listwise deletion)
* p <. 05
** p < .01
*** p < .001