Table 2 Distress scores in the different MS caregiver groups and the control group of PD spouses.
| MS spouses | PD spouses | p Value* | MS children | MS parents | MS friends | p Value† | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | 55 | 58 | 6 | 8 | 7 | ||
| Sex (M/F) | 36/19 | 37/21 | NS | 3/3 | 4/4 | 2/5 | NS |
| Age (y) | 45.0 (9.1) | 70.8 (8.3) | <0.001 | 24.2 (7.0) | 55.8 (17.4) | 49.6 (12.1) | 0.015 |
| Personal distress scale | 5.6 (4.2) | 5.8 (4.6) | NS | 3.8 (2.3) | 5.5 (5.6) | 0.9 (0.9) | 0.01‡ |
| Life upset scale | 4.1 (3.9) | 5.5 (5.4) | 0.003 | 1.8 (2.6) | 3.0 (3.3) | 0.3 (0.8) | 0.008 |
| Negative feeling scale | 3.0 (2.3) | 2.9 (2.6) | NS | 2.2 (1.2) | 0.9 (3.1) | 0.3 (0.8) | 0.001‡ |
| RSS total score | 12.6 (9.5) | 14.2 (11.2) | 0.04 | 7.8 (4.9) | 9.4 (9.2) | 1.4 (1.1) | 0.001‡ |
| GHQ | 14.1 (4.3) | 14.3 (5.2) | NS | 13.5 (2.1) | 13.5 (3.1) | 12.1 (1.3) | NS |
GHQ, General Health Questionnaire, 12 item version; MS, multiple sclerosis; PD, Parkinson's disease; RSS, Relative Stress Scale.
Life upset, negative feelings and personal distress scales are subscales of the RSS. Higher scores denote more severe distress.
Values are mean (SD) scores.
*Comparison MS and PD spouses.
†Comparison of the four MS caregiver groups
‡Scheffe's post hoc test: statistically significant difference between spouses and friends.