Table 4. Characteristics of Caregivers and Their Relationships to Caregiver-rated Quality of Life (QOL) of Persons with Dementia.
| Caregiver Characteristics | Total Sample (n=245) a % or Mean (SD) |
Bivariate Relationships to Caregiver-rated QOL Measures Mean (SD) and/or Statistic |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| QOL-AD_CR | ADRQL | ||
| Demographics | |||
| Sex | |||
| Female | 74.7 | 31.1 (6.0) | 82.6 (13.7) |
| Male | 25.3 | 31.8 (6.0) t = .78 | 84.9 (12.2) t = 1.18 |
| Race b | |||
| White | 67.8 | 31.8 (6.1) | 83.3 (13.8) |
| Non-white | 31.0 | 29.9 (5.6) t = −2.22 * | 82.6 (12.4) t = −.37 |
| Age, years b | 66.2 (13.2) | r = .03 | r = −.05 |
| Education, years b | 15.4 (3.0) | r = .00 | r = .09 |
| Relationship to Care Recipient | |||
| Spouse | 40.2 | 31.5 (6.3) | 81.7 (14.3) |
| Other | 59.8 | 31.0 (5.8) t = −.63 | 84.2 (12.5) t = 1.47 |
| Health & Well-Being | |||
| Self-Rated Health b | |||
| Excellent/Very Good/Good | 78.2 | 32.2 (5.9) | 84.3 (12.9) |
| Fair/Poor | 21.8 | 28.1 (5.2) t = −4.45 *** |
79.4 (14.2) t = −2.37 * |
| Zarit Burden Inventory b | 15.0 (8.6) | r = −.45 *** | r = −.45 *** |
| Geriatric Depression Scale b | 2.8 (3.0) | r = −.41 *** | r = −.44 *** |
| Caregiving | |||
| Caregiver Activity Survey, Hours/Day b | 12.9 (13.6) | r = −.16 * | r = −.34 *** |
| Total # Unmet Needs b | 2.5 (1.0) | r = −.16 * | r = −.12 † |
| Quality of Life | |||
| SF-12 Physical Health b | 48.2 (11.0) | r = .22 ** | r = .17 ** |
| SF-12 Mental Health b | 48.2 (10.1) | r = .37 *** | r = .30 *** |
a
Nine caregivers provided care to each of two care recipients who had dementia.
b
Missing Data – Race=3, Age=5, Education=5, Self-rated Health=2, Zarit Burden Inventory=1, Geriatric Depression Scale=2, Caregiver Activity Survey=4, # Unmet Needs=3, SF-12=1
†
p < .10
*
p < .05
**
p < .01
***
p < .001