Table 2 Patient characteristics before and after the enforcement of the LEMD law
Variables | Group | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|
Orders for LST before enforcement of the LEMD law (n = 195) | Advance directives or life-sustaining treatment plan after enforcement of the LEMD law (n = 217) | ||
Age (years) | 68.3 ± 11.5 | 63.0 ± 7.7 | 0.159 |
Sex, male | 107 (54.9) | 100 (46.1) | 0.178 |
Primary cancer | 0.599 | ||
Pancreatic cancer | 15 (7.69) | 18 (8.3) | |
Gastric cancer | 24 (12.3) | 16 (7.4) | |
Head, neck, and oral cancers | 6 (3.08) | 8 (3.7) | |
Liver and intrahepatic bile duct cancers | 25 (12.8) | 37 (17.1) | |
Lung, tracheal, and bronchial cancers | 47 (24.1) | 46 (21.2) | |
Hematologic cancer | 1 (0.5) | 1 (0.5) | |
Esophageal cancer | 2 (1.0) | 3 (1.4) | |
Colorectal cancer | 21 (10.8) | 36 (16.6) | |
Breast cancer | 19 (9.7) | 14 (6.5) | |
Prostatic cancer | 3 (1.5) | 5 (2.3) | |
Uterus, ovarian, and cervical cancers | 8 (4.1) | 12 (5.5) | |
Kidney cancer | 5 (2.6) | 3 (1.4) | |
Bladder cancer | 3 (1.5) | 3 (1.4) | |
Skin cancer | 3 (1.5) | 6 (2.8) | |
Others | 13 (6.7) | 9 (4.2) | |