Baseline characteristics of 48 patients and 23 caregivers
| Characteristic | Patients, no. (%)* | Caregivers, no. (%)* | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intervention n = 26 | Control n = 22 | Intervention n = 14 | Control n = 9 | |
| Age, median (range), yr | 61 (51–83) | 65 (41–82) | 61 (38–71) | 57 (40–80) |
| Sex, female | 19 (73.1) | 10 (45.5) | 8 (57.1) | 8 (88.9) |
| Married or in a common-law relationship | 15 (57.7) | 14 (63.6) | 14 (100) | 8 (88.9) |
| Living situation: alone (patient); with patient (caregiver) | 7 (26.9) | 5 (22.7) | 13 (92.9) | 7 (77.8) |
| Ethnic origin, European† | 26 (100) | 20 (90.9) | 14 (100) | 9 (100) |
| Education level | ||||
| Postsecondary‡ | 24 (92.3) | 18 (81.8) | 10 (71.4) | 6 (66.7) |
| High school | 2 (7.7) | 3 (13.6) | 3 (21.4) | 1 (11.1) |
| Less than high school | 0 | 1 (4.6) | 1 (7.1) | 1 (11.1) |
| Missing | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (11.1) |
| Employment status | ||||
| Retired | 14 (53.9) | 12 (54.5) | 7 (50.0) | 4 (44.5) |
| Employed | 7 (26.9) | 4 (18.2) | 6 (42.9) | 3 (33.3) |
| Unemployed | 3 (11.5) | 0 | 1 (7.1) | 2 (22.2) |
| Disability | 2 (7.7) | 6 (27.3) | 0 | 0 |
| Tumour site§ | ||||
| Lung | 4 (15.4) | 5 (22.7) | 3 (21.4) | 1 (11.1) |
| Gastrointestinal | 7 (26.9) | 8 (36.3) | 6 (42.9) | 4 (44.5) |
| Genitourinary | 3 (11.5) | 4 (18.2) | 1 (7.1) | 2 (22.2) |
| Breast | 6 (23.1) | 1 (4.6) | 3 (21.4) | 2 (22.2) |
| Gynecologic | 6 (23.1) | 4 (18.2) | 1 (7.1) | 0 |
| ECOG performance status at baseline§ | ||||
| 0 | 10 (38.5) | 7 (31.8) | 5 (35.7) | 3 (33.3) |
| 1 | 16 (61.5) | 13 (59.1) | 9 (64.3) | 6 (66.7) |
| 2 | 0 | 2 (9.1) | 0 | 0 |
| Active chemotherapy at baseline§ | 22 (84.6) | 20 (90.9) | 10 (71.4) | 8 (88.9) |
| Relationship to patient | ||||
| Spouse or partner | – | – | 12 (85.7) | 7 (77.8) |
| Son or daughter | – | – | 1 (7.1) | 2 (22.2) |
| Other family member | – | – | 1 (7.1) | 0 |
| No. visits to palliative care clinic, median (range) | 5 (4–5) | 0 (0–0) | 4 (0–8)§ | 0 (0–0) |
Note: ECOG = Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group.
↵* Unless stated otherwise.
↵† The 2 participants of non-European ethnicity were Southeast Asian and South Asian.
↵‡ Includes college, university, vocational/trade school and other.
§ For tumour site, ECOG performance status and active chemotherapy, values indicated for caregivers are those of the patients for whom they were caring.
↵§ Only 1 caregiver had no visits to the palliative care clinic, with all others attending twice or more.