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. 2017 Sep 5;5(1):55–64. doi: 10.14283/jpad.2017.31

Table 3.

Caregiver outcomes

Variable
AD dementia severity
p Value1
Overall population
Mild Moderate Moderately severe/severe
No. of caregivers 29 80 89 198
Caregiver burden and quality of life
Total NPI-12 caregiver distress score 9.4 (6.5; 12.2) 11.9 (10.0; 13.7) 14.3 (12.1; 16.5) 0.033 12.6 (11.3; 13.9)
ZBI total score 26.8 (21.1; 32.4) 29.4 (25.9; 32.8) 33.0 (29.3; 36.7) 0.143 30.6 (28.3; 32.9)
Response to ZBI question: Overall, how burdened do you feel in caring for your relative? 1.2 (0.83; 1.53) 1.0 (0.76; 1.26) 1.5 (1.23; 1.72) 0.025 1.2 (1.09; 1.40)
EQ-5D country-specific index score 0.87 (0.84; 0.90) 0.90 (0.88; 0.93) 0.86 (0.84; 0.89) 0.044 0.88 (0.86; 0.89)
EQ-VAS 68.5 (61.0; 76.0) 73.5 (69.8; 77.3) 72.7 (68.9; 76.5) 0.422 72.4 (69.9; 74.9)
Caregiver work variables and resource use
Caregivers working for pay, n (%) 9 (32.1) 32 (40.0) 32 (36.8) 0.751 73 (37.4)
Caregivers not working and reasons, n (%) 19 (67.9) 48 (60.0) 55 (63.2) 0.263 122 (62.6)
 Never worked 4 (21.1) 15 (31.3) 7 (12.7) 26 (21.3)
 Retirement age 12 (63.2) 26 (54.2) 34 (61.8) 72 (59.0)
 Other2 3 (15.8) 7 (14.6) 14 (25.5) 24 (19.7)
Work loss, if caregiver is working, hours/month3 15.8 (−11.1; 42.7) 47.8 (23.1; 72.5) 37.0 (17.8; 56.2) 0.457 40.4 (26.4; 54.3)
No. of missed working days in last month (for working caregivers) 2.1 (0.4; 3.9) 2.6 (0.7; 4.6) 3.3 (1.4; 5.2) 0.787 2.9 (1.7; 4.0)
Caregivers paid to care for patient, if applicable, n (%) 1 (11.1) 5 (15.6) 6 (18.8) 0.852 12 (16.4)
Amount of time caregiver paid to care for patient, if applicable (hours/week) 3.0 (−; −)4 11.2 (−8.8; 31.2) 10.5 (−0.3; 21.3) 0.851 10.2 (2.4; 17.9)
No. of outpatient visits (including GP visits) in previous month 1.6 (0.2; 2.9) 0.9 (0.4; 1.5) 1.0 (0.6; 1.5) 0.062 1.1 (0.7; 1.4)

AD=Alzheimer's disease; ANOVA=analysis of variance; EQ-5D=EuroQoL-5D; EQ-VAS=EQ-5D visual analogue scale; GP=general practitioner; MMSE=Mini-Mental State Examination; ZBI=Zarit burden interview. Data are presented as means (95% confidence intervals) unless otherwise indicated for the total population of each severity group with available data (0-90% missing). 1p Value for comparison between AD dementia severity groups (ANOVA for continuous variables and Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test for categorical variables). 2‘Other’ category included early retirement, being laid off, health problems and to care for patient. 3Based on reported number of hours lost per week in last month prior to baseline visit by caregivers who were working. 4As n=1 for this parameter, no confidence interval is presented. ‘Mild’ AD dementia severity = MMSE score of 21-26 points; ‘moderate’ AD dementia severity = MMSE score of 15-20 points; ‘moderately severe/severe’ AD dementia severity = MMSE score of <15 points. Increased burden is indicated by higher ZBI scores; reduced quality of life is indicated by lower scores for EQ-5D.