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Table 1 Characteristics of follow-up survey respondents and non-respondents at the time of diagnosis or the initial survey

From: Predictors of health-related quality of life in patients with colorectal cancer

Variable Type

Variablea

Evaluated

Respondents

(n= 496)b,c

Assessment of Response Biasb

   

Follow-up

Survey

Respondents

( n = 568)

Follow-up

Survey

Non-Respondents

( n = 236)

p -value d

Sociodemographic

Age at diagnosis (years) [mean (SD)]

66.8 (10.4)

66.7 (10.5)

65.0 (12.1)

0.07

 

Male

48.0

48.6

50.0

0.72

 

Race/ethnicity

    
 

   Non-Hispanic White

80.0

79.8

67.8

<0.001

 

   Non-Hispanic Black

5.7

5.6

14.0

 
 

   Hispanic

7.5

7.0

9.3

 
 

   Asian/Other

6.9

7.6

8.9

 
 

Married/Living as married

65.9

65.7

56.6

0.02

 

Education

    
 

   High school or less

38.1

38.2

44.0

0.30

 

   Post high school training/some college

30.7

31.1

27.8

 
 

   College degree or higher

31.1

30.7

28.2

 
 

Working

28.6

28.8

29.7

0.80

 

Household Income

    
 

   Missing

8.9

10.2

11.9

<0.001

 

   Less than $25,000

22.4

23.1

36.0

 
 

   $25,000 to $50,000

31.1

30.3

20.8

 
 

   Over $50,000

37.7

36.4

31.4

 
 

Financial problems due to cancer

    
 

   Not at all

76.6

77.2

66.4

0.01

 

   A little

10.9

10.2

16.4

 
 

   Somewhat

7.3

7.1

11.2

 
 

   A lot

5.0

5.5

6.0

 

Cancer/Health-related

Late Stage (Stage IV)

8.3

7.8

10.2

0.26

 

General Health

    
 

   Poor

5.0

5.3

5.1

0.21

 

   Fair

23.2

22.4

23.3

 
 

   Good

38.7

38.2

41.1

 
 

   Very Good

21.2

22.7

24.6

 
 

   Excellent

11.9

11.4

5.9

 
 

Colostomy

14.5

14.5

15.7

0.67

 

History of radiation therapy

15.3

17.4

19.4

0.51

 

History of chemotherapy

51.6

49.2

42.0

0.07

 

Receiving chemotherapy at time of initial survey

30.9

30.1

19.5

0.002

 

Comorbidity Index [median (IQR)]

2 (1–4)

2 (1–4)

3 (1–4)

0.08

 

Bowel Function [mean (SD)]

8.6 (2.3)

8.6 (2.3)

8.8 (2.4)

0.42

 

Time since diagnosis [mean (SD)]

8.6 (1.7)

9.2 (2.6)

9.8 (3.1)

0.02

Healthcare

Type of Insurance

    
 

   Medicare

24.2

24.3

28.8

0.40

 

   Commercial Insurance

68.2

68.0

64.4

 
 

   Other/none

7.7

7.8

6.8

 
 

Picker problem scores [mean, (SD)]

    
 

   Psychosocial Care

30.6 (28.9)

30.7 (28.5)

32.4 (28.1)

0.45

 

   Access to Care

10.8 (22.5)

10.7 (22.4)

16.7 (26.9)

0.003

 

   Treatment Information

30.4 (30.7)

30.5 (30.9)

33.9 (33.6)

0.17

 

   Health Information

46.1 (33.6)

46.6 (33.6)

49.6 (35.7)

0.25

 

   Confidence in Providers

11.7 (20.6)

11.8 (21.4)

15.5 (26.7)

0.05

 

   Coordination of Care

19.4 (23.5)

19.0 (23.5)

24.4 (27.4)

0.008

 

Control of Nausea/Vomiting (% somewhat/not at all)

11.3

10.9

14.0

0.22

 

Control of Pain (% somewhat/not at all)

10.3

10.4

18.2

0.002

HRQL

Initial HRQL scores [mean, (SD)]

    
 

   TOI

66.6 (12.7)

66.9 (12.7)

64.6 (13.7)

0.02

 

   SWB

23.2 (4.4)

23.2 (4.6)

22.0 (5.1)

0.002

 

   EWB

20.4 (3.7)

20.4 (3.7)

19.6 (4.5)

0.02

  1. HRQL, Health-related Quality of Life; TOI, Trial Outcome Index-Colorectal; SWB, Social/family well-being; EWB, Emotional well-being; SD, standard deviation; IQR, interquartile range.
  2. aData for all variables were collected via self report in the initial survey except gender, stage at diagnosis and age, which were reported to the California Cancer Registry at the time of diagnosis.
  3. bNumbers represent percentages unless otherwise specified.
  4. cParticipants with non-overlapping survey periods who were evaluated in the regression analyses.
  5. dp-value for response bias at follow-up. Compares follow-up respondents (n = 568) and non-respondents (n = 236).
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Health and Quality of Life Outcomes

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