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Table 2 Medical student characteristics by tertile of composite moral distress score

From: Moral distress and burnout in caring for older adults during medical school training

Characteristics

n with data

All

Lowest Tertilea of Composite Moral Distress

(0–17)

Middle Tertilea of Composite Moral Distress

(18–35)

Highest Tertilea of Composite Moral Distress

(36–95)

p-value

Year in Medical School

199

    

< 0.01

 Mid-Major Clinical

Year(n, %)

 

57 (29%)

38 (62%)

18 (26%)

1 (1%)

 

 Post-Major Clinical

Year (n, %)

 

142 (71%)

23 (38%)

51 (74%)

68 (99%)

 

Age (median, IQR)

197

26 (25–28)

26 (24–27)

26 (25–27)

27 (25–28)

0.08

Female gender (n, %)

205

121 (59%)

33 (49%)

40 (58%)

48 (71%)

0.03

Race/Ethnicity (n, %)

202

    

0.90

 Non-Hispanic White

 

122 (60%)

38 (56%)

40 (60%)

44 (66%)

 

 Non-Hispanic Black

 

12 (6%)

4 (6%)

4 (6%)

4 (6%)

 

 Hispanic

 

17 (8%)

7 (10%)

6 (9%)

4 (6%)

 

 East Asian

 

26 (13%)

10 (15%)

9 (13%)

7 (11%)

 

 Indian Subcontinent

 

10 (5%)

2 (3%)

3 (4%)

5 (7%)

 

 Other

 

15 (7%)

7 (10%)

5 (7%)

3 (5%)

 

Religion is moderately or very important in daily life (n, %)

205

50 (24%)

16 (24%)

19 (28%)

15 (22%)

0.74

Experience caring for older adults in a clinical setting

209

    

< 0.01

 Little or none (n, %)

 

51 (24%)

26 (37%)

17 (24%)

8 (12%)

 

 Some (n, %)

 

135 (65%)

40 (57%)

46 (66%)

49 (71%)

 

 A lot (n, %)

 

23 (11%)

4 (6%)

7 (10%)

12 (17%)

 

Present for hospitalization of elderly relative (n, %)

209

124 (59%)

35 (50%)

45 (64%)

44 (64%)

0.15

Very close relationship with elderly relatives or non-relatives (n, %)

198

78 (39%)

25 (38%)

26 (39%)

27 (41%)

0.94

UCLA Geriatrics Attitude Scale Score (median, IQR) (range 1–5, 5 most positive)

208

3.7 (3.4–4.0)

3.6 (3.1–3.9)

3.7 (3.4–4.0)

3.8 (3.4–4.1)

0.05

  1. aTertile 1 ranges from 0 to 11 (n = 70), tertile 2 ranges from 18 to 35 (n = 70), tertile 3 ranges from 36 to 95, (n = 69)