Table 3 Spearman correlations between measures of caregiver (spouse) distress and demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with MS.
| Patient characteristic | Measures of caregiver distress | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GHQ | Personal distress | Life upset | Negative feelings | |
| Age (y) | 0.123 | 0.237 | 0.350** | 0.163 |
| Sex | 0.110 | 0.138 | 0.126 | 0.257 |
| Education (y) | –0.101 | –0.029 | –0.102 | 0.111 |
| Duration of disease (y) | 0.134 | 0.122 | 0.295* | 0.000 |
| Duration since diagnosis (y) | 0.058 | 0.056 | 0.086 | 0.093 |
| EDSS | 0.134 | 0.426*** | 0.442*** | 0.299* |
| FSS total score | 0.132 | 0.153 | 0.313* | 0.227 |
| FSS mean score | 0.147 | 0.168 | 0.326* | 0.231 |
| BDI | –0.033 | 0.307* | 0.356*** | 0.266 |
| NPI total | 0.317* | 0.553*** | 0.555*** | 0.490*** |
| PASAT | –0.201 | –0.226 | –0.382*** | –0.062 |
| SDMT | –0.072 | –0.205 | –0.399*** | –0.164 |
| SRT–LTS | 0.005 | 0.148 | –0.157 | 0.112 |
| SRT–CLTS | –10.16 | 0.093 | –0.220 | 0.133 |
| SRT–intrusion | 0.011 | 0.087 | 0.044 | 0.087 |
| SRST–DR | –0.002 | 0.035 | –0.174 | –0.026 |
| DSM‐IV dementia | –0.307* | –0.502*** | –0.490*** | –0.517*** |
BDI, Beck Depression Inventory; CLTR, Consistent Long Term Retrieval; DR, Delayed Recall; EDSS, Expanded Disability Status Scale; FSS, Fatigue Severity Scale; GHQ, General Health Questionnaire; LTS, Long Time Storage; MS, multiple sclerosis; NPI, Neuropsychiatric Inventory; PASAT, Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test; SDMT, Symbol Digit Modalities Test; SRT, Selective Reminding Test.
DSM‐IV dementia is coded as 0 = dementia, 1 = no dementia.
*p<0.05, ***p<0.005.