Considering racial and ethnic preferences in communication and interactions among the patient, family member, and physician following diagnosis of localized prostate cancer: study of a US population

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic characteristics of prostate cancer patients and their family members

Total	Patients		Family members
	N	%	N	%
Total	240		193
Age
<60	85	35%	100	52%
60–64	57	24%	36	19%
65–69	56	23%	31	16%
≥70	42	18%	20	10%
Sex
Female			187	97%
Relationship with patient
Wife/Partner			179	93%
Daughter/Son			9	5%
Other/Unknown			5	3%
Race
White	170	71%	134	69%
Black	38	16%	24	12%
Hispanic	26	11%	17	9%
Other/Unknown^a	6	3%	18	9%
Insurance
Medicare	93	39%
Private (non-Medicare)	96	40%
VA/Military	36	15%
None/Unknown	11	5%
Employment
Full time	104	43%
Part-time/Self-employed	45	19%
Retired	81	34%
Unemployed/Unknown	10	4%
Income (USD)
<$40 000	68	28%
$40 000–$74 999	48	20%
≥$75 000	117	49%
Education
High school or less	50	21%	36	19%
Some college	65	27%	64	33%
College graduate	59	25%	62	32%
Graduate degree	61	25%	30	16%
Marital status
Married or living with a partner	202	84%	180	93%
Other/Unknown	38	16%	13	7%

Notes:

a Patients of “other/unknown” race were Asian (n = 6). Among family members of “other/unknown” race, twelve were Asian and six were of unknown race. Percentages may not all total 100% because of missing data.

Abbreviation: VA, Veteran Affairs.

Table 2 Communication in decision-making process among the triad (patient, physician, family member) by race/ethnicity

Triad relationship	Race/ethnicity
	White (n = 125)	African-American (n = 19)	Hispanic (n = 17)
Patient–physician (n = 173)
Physicians “definitely” involved me in the decision process	74%	84%	82%
Physicians “definitely” discussed treatment options in an understandable way	84%	89%	100%
Physicians “definitely” encouraged me to ask questions about treatment options	79%	89%	88%
Physician recommendation “very important”	86%	89%	94%
FM–physician (n = 161)
Physicians “definitely” discussed treatment options in an understandable way	90%	89%	76%
Physicians “definitely” encouraged me to ask questions about treatment options	77%	95%	76%
Communicated with physicians on my own	12%	21%	0%
FM “very comfortable” discussing cancer issues with physician	85%	79%	82%
Patient–FM (n = 161)
Patient considers wife/partner preference for a particular treatment “very important”	54%	74%	71%
Patient considers close FM preference for a particular treatment “very important”	21%	47%	24%
FM discussed treatment options “very often” with patient	51%	26%	41%
FM attended physician visits “often” after diagnosis	78%	79%	82%

Note: Hispanic denoted in addition to racial status.

Abbreviation: FM, family member.

Figure 1 Perceived family member roles.