Table 2 Representative participant responses to the "I feel that my main doctor can correctly estimate how long I might live" Likert statement by domains

Agree or strongly agree

1) personal experience

1) "Because she knows my overall physical condition and hopefully she is knowledgeable and aware of her limitations. Nobody knows how long anybody is going to live; nobody can play God, but they do know for certain conditions and to a certain degree."

2) physician knowledge

2) "They know for the most part. Partly because when my husband died suddenly, and he had just had a physical, so I went to see my doctor because I didn't want to die suddenly too, and he said I'd live 20 more years, but there are some conditions they don't have tests for, and you have to forgive them that

3) uncertainty

3) "It's a guesstimate, you know. I had a horrendous car accident in September, and it's a miracle I did not die. It can happen fast and have nothing to do with disease."

Disagree or strongly disagree

1) personal experience

1) "They don't know. My sister defied the life-expectancy predictions. She had metastatic breast disease and was in a coma; now she's doing okay."

2) physician knowledge

2) "I don't think medicine is that well-known. It's terribly complex."

3) uncertainty

3) "I could get killed by an automobile tomorrow, or by having something fall on me."