Experiences of bereaved family caregivers with shared decision making in palliative cancer treatment: a qualitative interview study

Table 2 Characteristics of the family caregivers (n = 16) and the deceased family members with incurable cancer^a

Characteristic	Family caregivers		Deceased patients
Characteristic	Number (%)	Median (range)	Number (%)	Median (range)
Gender, female	7 (44)		10 (63)
Age in years		68 (30-79)		69 (30-85)
Religion, yes	11 (69)		12 (75)
Educational level			NA
Primary education Secondary education Higher education	1 (6) 6 (38) 9 (56)
Relationship with the deceased patient			NA
Spouse/partner Child Brother in law	14 (88) 1 (6) 1 (6)
Providing care for the patient, yes	15 (94)		NA
Months as caregiver		10 (0.3-72)
Days since patient’s death		187 (40-331)	NA
Primary cancer diagnosis	NA
Gynaecological Gastrointestinal Melanoma Sarcoma Urological Squamous cell carcinoma of unknown origin			6 (38) 3 (19) 2 (13) 2 (13) 2 (13) 1 (6)
Place of death	NA
At home Institution Hospice Hospital Recovery centre/rehabilitation home			10 (63) 6 (38) 4 (25) 1 (6) 1 (6)
Euthanasia, yes	NA		2 (13)

NA not applicable
^aThe age of the deceased patient, cancer diagnosis, and, if noted, the age of the family caregiver and date of death were verified by a medical oncologist in the electronic health records of the deceased patient

ISSN: 1472-684X