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Table 1 Background, clinical and personal characteristics of the total sample

From: Characteristics of patients with advanced cancer preferring not to know prognosis: a multicenter survey study

Patient characteristics

Cronbach’s alpha a

Total sample n = 524

Sex (male), % (n)

 

54.8 (287)

Age (years), mean ± SD

 

63.9 ± 11.0

Education, % (n) b

 Low

 

37.9 (198)

 Medium

 

26.6 (139)

 High

 

35.4 (185)

Health literacy (SBSQ-D, 0–4), mean ± SD c

.71

3.2 ± 0.8

Numeracy (SNS, 1–6), mean ± SD d

.90

4.2 ± 1.2

Nationality (Dutch), % (n)

 

95.4 (500)

Religion, % (n)

 None

 

59.0 (309)

 Christianity

 

37.0 (194)

 Other e

 

4.0 (21)

Presence of children < 18, % (n) f

 

10.3 (54)

Time since diagnosis (months), mean ± SD g

 

17.8 ± 21.5

Line of systemic treatment during study participation, % (n) h

 None

 

23.6 (121)

 First line

 

43.5 (223)

 Second line

 

20.1 (103)

  ≥ Third line

 

12.9 (66)

Tumor type, % (n) d

 Lung

 

24.1 (125)

 Pleura

 

6.0 (31)

 Oesophagogastric

 

13.7 (71)

 Pancreatic

 

6.9 (36)

 Other gastrointestinal

 

14.9 (77)

 Colorectal

 

2.9 (15)

 Brain

 

11.8 (61)

 Gynaecological

 

9.5 (49)

 Soft tissue

 

2.7 (14)

 Other (each type n < 10) i

 

7.5 (39)

Patients’ perceived likelihood of dying in one year, % (n) j

 Very to extremely unlikely

 

24.3 (125)

 Unlikely

 

10.5 (54)

 Possibly

 

36.4 (187)

 Likely

 

7.8 (40)

 Very to extremely likely

 

21.0 (108)

Health-related quality of life (GHS, 0–100), mean ± SD f

.88

63.0 ± 21.0

Fighting spirit (mini-MAC, 4–16), mean ± SD k

.67

11.5 ± 2.7

Trait optimism (LOT-R, 0–24), mean ± SD g

.73

14.6 ± 3.9

Trait anxiety (STAI-trait, 20–80), mean ± SD g

.94

39.7 ± 10.7

Avoidance coping (UCL, 8–32), mean ± SD l

.72

15.5 ± 3.3

Uncertainty tolerance (TFA, 7–42), mean ± SD l

.71

25.8 ± 5.9

Trust in the physician (TiOS-SF, 1–5), mean ± SD g

.92

4.3 ± 0.7

  1. aInterpretation: < 0.50 unacceptable, 0.50–0.60 poor, 0.60–0.70 questionable, 0.70–0.80 acceptable, 0.80–0.90 good, 0.90–1.00 excellent
  2. bn = 522/524 (2 missing). Low vocational education; medium level vocational education; high vocational or academic education
  3. cn = 515/524 (9 missing)
  4. dn = 518/524 (6 missing)
  5. eIncluding Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Humanism, spirituality and “own belief”
  6. fn = 523/524 (1 missing)
  7. gn = 517/524 (7 missing)
  8. hn = 513/524 (11 missing)
  9. iIncluding melanoma, head and neck, thyroid, breast, vagina, prostate, bladder, kidney, adrenal cortex, bone, carcinoid and unknown primary tumors
  10. jn = 514/524 (10 missing)
  11. kn = 511/524 (13 missing)
  12. ln = 516/524 (8 missing)
  13. n Sample size, SD Standard deviation, SBSQ-D Set of Brief Screening Questions-Dutch, SNS Subjective Numeracy Scale, GHS Global Health Status from the EORTC-QLQ-C30, EORTC-QLQ-C30 European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire for Cancer, MAC Mental Adjustment to Cancer, LOT-R Life Orientation Test-Revised, STAI Spielberger State and Trait Anxiety Inventory, UCL Utrecht Coping List, TFA Tolerance for Ambiguity, TiOS-SF Trust in Oncologist Scale-Short Form
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BMC Cancer

ISSN: 1471-2407

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