Baseline characteristics of study participants
| Early specialist palliative care (n=87) | Standard care (n=87) | |||
| n | n | |||
| Age median (LQ, UQ) | 87 | 72.1 (66.7, 77.7) | 87 | 72.8 (69.0, 78.9) |
| Gender, male (%) | 87 | 67 (77.0) | 87 | 72 (82.8) |
| Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, median (LQ, UQ) | 87 | 3.6 (2.7, 5.3) | 86 | 4.1 (2.9, 7.4) |
| Comorbidities, yes (%) | ||||
| Underlying respiratory disease | 87 | 12 (13.8) | 87 | 9 (10.3) |
| Cardiac failure | 87 | 0 (0.0) | 87 | 0 (0.0) |
| Ischaemic heart disease | 87 | 8 (9.2) | 87 | 9 (10.3) |
| Chronic renal impairment | 87 | 2 (2.3) | 87 | 1 (1.2) |
| Diabetes | 87 | 9 (10.3) | 87 | 7 (8.1) |
| Other | 87 | 19 (21.8) | 87 | 28 (32.2) |
| Designated carer, yes (%) | 87 | 73 (83.9) | 87 | 72 (82.8) |
| Previous treatment received, yes (%) | ||||
| Cordotomy | 87 | 1 (1.2) | 87 | 0 (0.0) |
| Nerve block | 87 | 0 (0.0) | 87 | 0 (0.0) |
| Radiotherapy | 87 | 1 (1.2) | 87 | 1 (1.2) |
| Symptoms at baseline, yes (%) | ||||
| Suffers pain | 87 | 54 (62.1) | 87 | 46 (52.9) |
| Pain due to mesothelioma | 54 | 27 (50.0) | 46 | 28 (60.9) |
| Analgesia use | 87 | 55 (63.2) | 87 | 56 (64.4) |
| Breathlessness | 77 | 26 (33.8) | 73 | 25 (34.2) |
| Fatigue | 76 | 29 (38.2) | 72 | 27 (37.5) |
| Pleural procedures, yes (%) | 87 | 67 (77.0) | 87 | 69 (79.3) |
| Therapeutic tap | 67 | 26 (38.8) | 69 | 28 (40.6) |
| Chest drain | 67 | 19 (28.4) | 69 | 20 (29.0) |
| Chest drain and pleurodesis | 67 | 21 (31.3) | 69 | 16 (23.2) |
| Indwelling pleural catheter | 67 | 7 (10.4) | 69 | 12 (17.4) |
| Medical thoracoscopy | 67 | 26 (38.8) | 69 | 27 (39.1) |
| Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery | 67 | 28 (41.8) | 69 | 21 (30.4) |
| Mini thoracotomy | 67 | 0 (0.0) | 69 | 1 (1.4) |
| IASLC radiological stage | 48 | 55 | ||
| 1 | 15 (31.3) | 20 (36.4) | ||
| 2 | 3 (6.3) | 8 (14.5) | ||
| 3 | 16 (33.3) | 16 (29.1) | ||
| 4 | 14 (29.2) | 11 (20.0) | ||
| Minimisation factors | ||||
| Plan for chemotherapy, yes (%) | 87 | 47 (54.0) | 86 | 45 (52.3) |
| ECOG performance status | 87 | 87 | ||
| 0 | 34 (39.1) | 32 (36.8) | ||
| 1 | 53 (60.9) | 55 (63.2) | ||
| Histological subtype, non-epithelioid/epithelioid (% non-epithelioid/epithelioid) | 87 | 19/68 (21.8/78.2) | 87 | 19/68 (21.8/78.2) |
ECOG, European Cooperative Oncology Group; IALSC, International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer; LQ, lower quartile; UQ, upper quartile.