Baseline demographic characteristics of patients in the decision-support intervention and usual-care groups
| Characteristic | Group; no. (%) of patients* | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Intervention n = 66 | Usual care n = 57 | Overall n = 123 | |
| Age, yr, mean ± SD | 73.5 ± 15.9 | 74.4 ± 11.1 | 73.9 ± 13.9 |
| Sex | |||
| Male | 33 (50.0) | 31 (54.4) | 64 (52.0) |
| Female | 33 (50.0) | 26 (45.6) | 59 (48.0) |
| Current marital status | |||
| Married/living as married | 54 (81.8) | 44 (77.2) | 98 (79.7) |
| Widowed | 9 (13.6) | 8 (14.0) | 17 (13.8) |
| Never married | 2 (3.0) | 4 (7.0) | 6 (4.9) |
| Divorced/separated; not remarried | 1 (1.5) | 1 (1.8) | 2 (1.6) |
| Highest level of education completed | |||
| Did not complete secondary school | 18 (27.3) | 10 (17.5) | 28 (22.8) |
| Completed secondary school | 7 (10.6) | 9 (15.8) | 16 (13.0) |
| Some university education, or completed community college, technical college or postsecondary program | 25 (37.9) | 27 (47.4) | 52 (42.3) |
| University degree | 12 (18.2) | 5 (8.8) | 17 (13.8) |
| Graduate degree | 4 (6.1) | 6 (10.5) | 10 (8.1) |
| Self-rated overall quality of life | |||
| Excellent | 8 (12.1) | 8 (14.0) | 16 (13.0) |
| Very good | 29 (43.9) | 32 (56.1) | 61 (49.6) |
| Good | 22 (33.3) | 12 (21.0) | 34 (27.6) |
| Fair | 6 (9.1) | 3 (5.3) | 9 (7.3) |
| Poor | 1 (1.5) | 2 (3.5) | 3 (2.4) |
| Needs help when reading instructions, pamphlets or other written material from doctor or pharmacy | |||
| Never | 36 (54.5) | 32 (56.1) | 68 (55.3) |
| Occasionally | 20 (30.3) | 16 (28.1) | 36 (29.3) |
| Sometimes | 7 (10.6) | 3 (5.3) | 10 (8.1) |
| Often | 1 (1.5) | 3 (5.3) | 4 (3.2) |
| Always | 2 (3.0) | 3 (5.3) | 5 (4.1) |
Note: SD = standard deviation.
↵* Except where noted otherwise.