Demographics and clinical characteristics of patients in the two study groups
| RDSI intervention | Control arm | All participants | ||||
| N | Mean (SD) or frequency, % | N | Mean (SD) or frequency, % | N | Mean (SD) or frequency, % | |
| Female | 67 | 50.8% | 65 | 49.6% | 132 | 50.2% |
| Male | 65 | 49.2% | 66 | 50.4% | 131 | 49.8% |
| Age | 132 | 69.2 (8.70) | 131 | 69.5 (10.20) | ||
| Smoking | ||||||
| Never smoked | 18 | 13.6% | 16 | 12.2% | 34 | 12.9% |
| Ex-smoker | 100 | 75.7% | 96 | 73.3% | 196 | 74.5% |
| Smoker | 14 | 10.6% | 19 | 14.5% | 33 | 12.5% |
| COPD | ||||||
| Yes | 41 | 31.1% | 43 | 32.8% | 84 | 31.9% |
| No | 91 | 68.9% | 88 | 67.2% | 179 | 68.1% |
| WHO PS | ||||||
| 0 | 20 | 15.15% | 21 | 16.03% | 41 | 15.59% |
| 1 | 79 | 59.85% | 71 | 54.20% | 150 | 57.03% |
| 2 | 33 | 25.00% | 39 | 29.77% | 72 | 27.38% |
| Diagnosis | ||||||
| Mesothelioma | 17 | 12.88% | 15 | 11.45% | 32 | 12.17% |
| Primary LC | 115 | 87.12% | 115 | 87.79 | 230 | 87.45% |
| Secondary LC | 0 | 0% | 1 | 0.76% | 1 | 0.38% |
| Time since diagnosis (years)* | 131 | 1.8 (1.8) | 130 | 1.8 (1.9) | ||
| Current Opiates | ||||||
| Yes | 42 | 31.8% | 41 | 31.3% | 83 | 31.6% |
| No | 90 | 68.2% | 90 | 68.7% | 180 | 68.4% |
| Current benzodiazepines | ||||||
| Yes | 12 | 9.1% | 10 | 7.6% | 22 | 8.4% |
| No | 120 | 90.9% | 121 | 92.4% | 241 | 91.6% |
| Completed treatment intent | ||||||
| Palliative | 79 | 59.8% | 80 | 61.1% | 159 | 60.5% |
| Radical | 53 | 40.2% | 51 | 38.9% | 104 | 39.5% |
*Two patients did not have the date of diagnosis recorded, so data only available from 224 patients.
COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; LC, Lung Cancer; PS, Performance Status; RDSI, respiratory distress symptom intervention.