Performance of Distress Thermometer and Associated Factors of Psychological Distress among Chinese Cancer Patients
Table 2
Bivariate and multivariate analysis of the association between the distress thermometer (DT) score and the sociodemographic, clinical characteristics of patients, and the problem list domains.
Demographic and clinical characteristics
No. of patients (%)
DT < 4(%)
DT ≥ 4(%)
Bivariate analysis value
Multivariate analysis value
Age (mean ± SD)
54.4 ± 11.2
Source
<0.001
0.07
Inpatients
784 (52.4)
328 (41.8)
456 (58.2)
Outpatients
712 (47.6)
472 (66.3)
240 (33.7)
Gender
0.17
Male
729 (48.7)
403 (50.4)
326 (46.8)
Female
767 (51.3)
397 (49.6)
370 (53.2)
Marital status
0.51
Married
1408 (94.1)
750 (53.3)
658 (46.7)
Unmarrieda
88 (5.9)
50 (56.8)
38 (43.2)
Education level
<0.001
0.01
Junior high school or less
847 (56.6)
412 (48.6)
435 (51.4)
More than junior high school
649 (43.4)
388 (59.8)
261 (40.2)
Employment
<0.001
0.48
Farmer
490 (32.8)
223 (45.5)
267 (54.5)
Others
1006 (67.2)
577 (57.4)
429 (42.6)
Monthly income (RMB)
0.002
0.28
<3000
1062 (71.0)
522 (49.2)
540 (50.8)
>3000
434 (29.0)
260 (59.9)
174 (40.1)
Diagnosis
0.02
0.02
Known
1345 (89.9)
732 (54.4)
613 (45.6)
Unknown
151 (10.1)
68 (45.0)
83 (55.0)
Exercise
<0.001
<0.001
Lack (<150 min/week)
1010 (67.5)
441 (43.7)
569 (56.3)
Often (>150 min/week)
486 (32.5)
359 (73.9)
127 (26.1)
Disease status
<0.001
0.001
Complete remission
289 (19.3)
222 (76.8)
67 (23.2)
Active disease
1207 (80.7)
578 (47.9)
629 (52.1)
Type of cancer
Lung
503 (33.6)
250 (49.7)
253 (50.3)
0.03
0.85
Digestive
414 (27.7)
212 (51.2)
202 (48.8)
0.27
Gynecological
163 (10.9)
104 (63.8)
59 (36.2)
0.005
0.91
Breast
156 (10.4)
85 (54.5)
71 (45.5)
0.78
Head and neck
107 (7.2)
55 (51.4)
52 (48.6)
0.65
Urogenital
69 (4.6)
44 (63.8)
25 (36.2)
0.79
Hematological
63 (4.2)
39 (61.9)
24 (38.1)
0.17
Bone and soft tissue
21 (1.4)
11 (52.4)
10 (47.6)
0.91
Stage of cancer
<0.001
<0.001
Advance
576 (38.5)
234 (40.6)
342 (59.4)
Othersb
920 (61.5)
566 (61.5)
354 (38.5)
Treatment received
0.29
Combined treatmentc
834 (55.7)
436 (52.3)
398 (47.7)
Single treatment
662 (44.3)
364 (55.0)
298 (45.0)
Months since diagnosis
0.57
<6 months
816 (54.5)
431 (52.8)
385 (47.2)
>6 months
680 (45.5)
369 (54.3)
311 (45.7)
Practical problem
894 (59.8)
374 (41.8)
520 (58.2)
<0.001
0.12
Family problem
464 (31.0)
176 (37.9)
288 (62.1)
<0.001
0.32
Emotional problem
1064 (71.1)
176 (37.9)
288 (62.1)
<0.001
<0.001
Physical problem
1174 (78.5)
503 (42.8)
671 (57.2)
<0.001
<0.001
DT (mean ± SD)
3.3 ± 2.6
aUnmarried (single/divorced/separated/widowed). bOther stages of cancer (stage I, II, III, and cancer stage under evaluation). cCombined treatments (chemotherapy + surgery + radiotherapy + targeted treatment). Bold values denote statistically significant values (). Bold values denote statistically significant values ().
