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Table 2 Comparison of the characteristics and the rates of surviving to hospital discharge

From: The over-optimistic portrayal of life-supporting treatments in newspapers and on the Internet: a cross-sectional study using extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation as an example

 

Stories on the Internet(n = 237)

p valuea

Patients on the Internet(n = 55)

p valueb

Patients(n = 83)

p valuec

Patients in newspapers(n = 60)

p valued

Stories in newspapers(n = 182)

Age e

33.37 ± 21.62

0.71

34.65 ± 23.75

0.47

31.68 ± 22.72

0.63

29.88 ± 21.31

0.73

28.75 ± 21.75

Length of ECMO use by day f

15.66 ± 26.95

0.34

11.66 ± 18.79

0.74

10.57 ± 16.08

0.55

12.37 ± 17.95

0.86

12.87 ± 18.91

Length of ICU stay by day g

16.90 ± 16.91

0.70

15.64 ± 17.55

0.60

13.67 ± 15.80

0.93

13.36 ± 13.83

0.75

14.21 ± 14.04

Length of hospital stay by day h

38.69 ± 50.61

0.64

43.13 ± 64.68

0.60

36.86 ± 56.41

0.57

31.49 ± 36.88

0.97

31.72 ± 38.19

Gender i

 

0.51

 

0.53

 

0.55

 

0.95

 

Male

146 (63.76%)

 

35 (68.63%)

 

50 (63.29%)

 

35 (58.33%)

 

107 (58.79%)

Female

83 (36.24%)

 

16 (31.37%)

 

29 (36.71%)

 

25 (41.67%)

 

75 (41.21%)

Hospital location

 

0.22

 

0.34

 

0.99

 

0.98

 

Urban

190 (80.17%)

 

40 (72.73%)

 

54 (65.06%)

 

39 (65%)

 

118 (64.84%)

Rural

47 (19.83%)

 

15 (27.27%)

 

29 (34.94%)

 

21 (35%)

 

64 (36.16%)

Level of hospital j

 

0.12

 

0.55

 

0.90

 

0.69

 

Medical center

168 (70.89%)

 

33 (60%)

 

45 (54.88%)

 

33 (55.93%)

 

106 (58.89%)

Non-medical center

69 (29.11%)

 

22 (40%)

 

37 (45.12%)

 

26 (44.07%)

 

74 (41.11%)

Primary reason for ECMO use

 

0.43

 

0.89

 

0.95

 

0.99

 

Cardiac

127 (53.59%)

 

26 (47.27%)

 

40 (48.19%)

 

30 (50%)

 

93 (51.10%)

Pulmonary

95 (40.08%)

 

23 (41.82%)

 

32 (38.55%)

 

23 (38.33%)

 

68 (37.36%)

Others

15 (6.33%)

 

6 (10.91%)

 

11 (13.25%)

 

7 (11.67%)

 

21 (11.54%)

Status at hospital discharge

 

0.31

 

0.28

 

0.68

 

0.48

 

Alive

199 (83.97%)

 

43 (78.18%)

 

58 (69.88%)

 

40 (66.67%)

 

112 (61.54%)

Dead

38 (16.03%)

 

12 (21.82%)

 

25 (30.12%)

 

20 (33.33%)

 

70 (38.46%)

  1. Abbreviations list: ECMO extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation, ICU intensive care unit.
  2. Interpretations of “Status at hospital discharge”: 58 (69.88%) patients survived to hospital discharge, and 43 (78.18%) patients on the Internet survived to hospital discharge. The p value (0.28) is not significant; 43 (78.18%) patients on the Internet survived to hospital discharge, and 199 (83.97%) stories on the Internet survived to hospital discharge. The p value (0.31) is not significant.
  3. aThe p value of the comparisons between stories on the Internet (n = 237) and patients on the Internet (n = 55).
  4. bThe p value of the comparisons between patients on the Internet (n = 55) and patients (n = 83).
  5. cThe p value of the comparisons between patients (n = 83) and patients in newspapers (n = 60).
  6. dThe p value of the comparisons between patients in newspapers (n = 60) and stories in newspapers (n = 182).
  7. e“Age”: stories on the Internet = 6 missing values; patients on the Internet = 3 missing values; patients = 3 missing values.
  8. f“Length of ECMO use by day”: stories on the Internet = 20 missing values; patients on the Internet = 8 missing values; patients = 11 missing values; patients in newspapers = 5 missing values; stories in newspapers = 9 missing values.
  9. g“Length of ICU stay by day”: stories on the Internet = 92 missing values; patients on the Internet = 22 missing values; patients = 35 missing values; patients in newspapers = 24 missing values; stories in newspapers = 66 missing values.
  10. h“Length of hospital stay by day”: stories on the Internet = 71 missing values; patients on the Internet = 15 missing values; patients = 20 missing values; patients in newspapers = 13 missing values; stories in newspapers = 28 missing values.
  11. i“Gender”: stories on the Internet = 8 missing values; patients on the Internet = 4 missing values; patients = 4 missing values.
  12. j“Level of hospital”: patients = 1 missing value; patients in newspapers = 1 missing value; stories in newspapers = 2 missing values.
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BMC Medical Ethics

ISSN: 1472-6939

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