Participant Characteristics
| Characteristic | All (N = 878) | Preference for Discussing Life Expectancy | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wanted to Discussa (n = 363) | Did Not Want to Discussa (n = 515) | P Value | ||
| Age, mean (SD), y | 73.4 (6.1) | 73.5 (6.1) | 73.3 (6.2) | .70 |
| Female sex, No. (%) | 462 (55.1) | 177 (51.9) | 285 (57.4) | .20 |
| Race, No. (%) | ||||
| White | 575 (77.2) | 261 (80.9) | 314 (74.7) | .15 |
| African American | 214 (8.7) | 68 (6.3) | 146 (10.4) | |
| Other | 89 (14.1) | 34 (12.8) | 55 (14.9) | |
| Educational level, No. (%) | ||||
| <High school | 61 (14.4) | 13 (9.6) | 48 (17.7) | <.001 |
| High school | 268 (33.2) | 80 (26.2) | 188 (37.9) | |
| <4-year college | 243 (24.2) | 104 (25.9) | 139 (23.0) | |
| College graduate or postgraduate degrees | 306 (28.3) | 166 (38.2) | 140 (21.5) | |
| Health literacy,b,36 mean (SD) | 13.1 (2.1) | 13.2 (2.2) | 13.0 (2.0) | .33 |
| Numeracy,c,37 mean (SD) | 13.8 (3.5) | 14.4 (3.4) | 13.4 (3.6) | <.001 |
| Predicted life expectancy,31 No. (%) | ||||
| >10 years | 631 (68.9) | 262 (69.7) | 369 (68.4) | .76 |
| <10 years | 197 (31.1) | 81 (30.3) | 116 (31.6) | |
| Self-perceived life expectancy, No. (%) | ||||
| ≥10 years | 762 (83.4) | 322 (84.7) | 440 (82.5) | .54 |
| <10 years | 110 (16.6) | 41 (15.3) | 69 (17.5) | |
| Belief that life expectancy can be predicted,21 No. (%) | ||||
| Disagree | 446 (47.3) | 155 (39.5) | 291 (52.6) | <.001 |
| Neutral | 308 (38.6) | 132 (39.1) | 176 (38.2) | |
| Agree | 122 (14.2) | 74 (21.4) | 48 (9.2) | |
| Has had life-threatening illness,32 No. (%) | 252 (29.3) | 120 (33.4) | 132 (26.5) | .09 |
| Has discussed life expectancy of a loved one,32 No. (%) | 240 (24.8) | 156 (40.7) | 84 (14.0) | <.001 |
| Complete trust in doctor,35 No. (%) | ||||
| Disagree | 81 (8.6) | 26 (7.0) | 55 (9.7) | .53 |
| Neutral | 231 (27.6) | 98 (27.6) | 133 (27.6) | |
| Agree | 565 (63.8) | 238 (65.4) | 327 (62.7) | |
| Preferred decision-making role, 33 No. (%) | ||||
| Make own decisions | 533 (62.5) | 220 (62.0) | 313 (62.9) | .83 |
| Shared or leave to doctor | 337 (37.5) | 141 (38.0) | 196 (37.1) | |
| Religion is important,34 No. (%) | 633 (70.8) | 242 (65.5) | 391 (74.5) | .02 |
↵a Responses to the hypothetical scenario. See Methods for description.
b Possible range 3 to 15; higher scores indicate better health literacy.
c Possible range 3 to 18; higher scores indicate better numeracy.