Table 1.
Sociodemographic characteristics of the patients and caregivers
| Patient characteristics (N = 611) | N (%) | Statistics* | P | Caregiver characteristics (N = 611) | N (%) | Statistics* | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | Gender | ||||||
| Female | 132 (21.6) | 33,207.5 | 0.318 | Female | 352 (57.6) | 37,146 | < 0.001 |
| Male | 479 (78.4) | Male | 259 (42.4) | ||||
| Age (years) | Age (years) | ||||||
| ≤ 60 | 223 (36.5) | 46,907 | 0.051 | ≤ 60 | 460 (75.3) | 47,814 | < 0.001 |
| 60 + | 388 (63.5) | ≥ 60 | 151 (24.7) | ||||
| Residence | Residence | ||||||
| Rural area | 345 (56.5) | 46,883.5 | 0.603 | Rural | 326 (53.4) | 46,206.5 | 0.898 |
| Urban area | 266 (43.5) | Urban | 285 (46.6) | ||||
| Marital status | Marital status | ||||||
| Married | 587 (96.1) | 6335.5 | 0.347 | Married | 582 (95.3) | 8189.5 | 0.762 |
| Others | 24 (3.9) | Others | 29 (4.7) | ||||
| Educational attainment | Educational attainment | ||||||
| Primary school or lower | 219 (35.8) | 15,099.5 | 0.409 | Primary school or lower | 121 (19.8) | 41.05 | < 0.001 |
| Secondary school | 215 (35.2) | Secondary school | 187 (30.6) | ||||
| High school or technical secondary school | 131 (21.4) | High school or technical secondary school | 166 (27.2) | ||||
| University degree and above | 46 (7.5) | University degree and above | 137 (22.4) | ||||
| Occupation type | Occupation type | ||||||
| Civil servant | 14 (2.3) | 7.81 | 0.252 | Civil servant | 12 (2.0) | 79.08 | < 0.001 |
| Employees of enterprise and institution | 62 (10.1) | Institution staff | 100 (16.4) | ||||
| Freelancer | 64 (10.5) | Freelancer | 132 (21.6) | ||||
| The Jobless | 102 (16.7) | The Jobless | 74 (12.1) | ||||
| Farmer | 111 (18.2) | Farmer | 96 (15.7) | ||||
| Retiree | 191 (31.3) | Retiree | 106 (17.3) | ||||
| Others | 67 (11.0) | Others | 91 (14.9) | ||||
| Employment status | Current employment | ||||||
| Employed | 13 (2.1) | 8.15 | 0.017 | Employed | 289 (47.3) | 65,642 | < 0.001 |
| Unemployeda | 546 (89.4) | Unemployed | 322 (52.7) | ||||
| Working with occasional sick leave | 52 (8.5) | Relationship to patient | |||||
| Smoking (years) | Spouse | 296 (48.4) | 57.06 | < 0.001 | |||
| Never | 235 (38.5) | 2.42 | 0.298 | Daughter/Son | 251 (41.1) | ||
| < 10 | 45 (7.4) | Mother/Father | 31 (5.1) | ||||
| ≥ 10 | 331 (54.2) | Others | 33 (5.4) | ||||
| Household income ($, per year)b | Caregiving duration(months) | ||||||
| < 6975 | 253 (41.4) | 9.91 | 0.019 | < 3 | 187 (30.6) | 3.52 | 0.318 |
| 6975– | 197 (32.2) | 3–6 | 139 (22.7) | ||||
| 13,950– | 114 (18.7) | 7–12 | 88 (14.4) | ||||
| ≥ 27900 | 47 (7.7) | > 12 | 197 (32.2) | ||||
| Hospital type | Current caregiving time(h/day) | ||||||
| Specialized hospital | 223 (36.5) | 5.87 | 0.053 | < 3 | 194 (31.8) | 11.16 | 0.011 |
| Traditional Chinese medicine hospital | 24 (3.9) | 3–6 | 145 (23.7) | ||||
| General hospital | 364 (59.6) | 7–9 | 56 (9.2) | ||||
| Department | > 9 | 216 (35.4) | |||||
| Oncology | 513 (84.0) | 22,194.5 | 0.039 | ||||
| Respiratory | 98 (16.0) | ||||||
*Including the statistics W-value of Wilcoxon rank-sum test, and H-value of Kruskal–Wallis test
aThe unemployed including patients who were retired, and those who were employed but completely unable to work due to their illness
bWe used CNY45,000 ($6975, referring to the 2019 Chinese urban per capita disposable income) as the baseline option for household income, and the numbers in subsequent options increased in multiples (that is, ≤ CNY45,000, CNY45,000-CNY90,000, CNY90,000-CNY180,000, ≥ CNY180,000)