Table 1.
Background characteristics, psychosocial resources, coping strategies, and caregiver burden in 242 lung and heart transplant caregivers.
| Characteristic | Total Sample (N = 242) | Lung Caregivers (n = 134) | Heart Caregivers (n = 108) | Group Comparison, Test Statistica | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Background Characteristics | |||||
| Caregiver Demographic Characteristicsb,c - % | |||||
| Gender (female) | 71.5 | 65.7 | 78.7 | 4.98* | .026 |
| Age (≤ 50) | 37.2 | 39.6 | 34.3 | 0.72 | .397 |
| Race (European-American) | 90.9 | 94.0 | 87.0 | 3.54 | .856 |
| Educational level (≤ High School) | 43.8 | 43.3 | 44.4 | 0.03 | .090 |
| Occupation (≤ Clerical/sales workers) | 50.4 | 45.5 | 56.5 | 2.87 | .128 |
| Family Income (≤ $39, 999) | 52.9 | 48.5 | 58.3 | 2.31 | .128 |
| Relationship to recipient (spouse/partner) | 78.5 | 79.1 | 76.9 | 0.32 | .572 |
| Recipient Transplant-Related Characteristics | |||||
| Indication for transplant – % lung recipients | -- | ||||
| (COPD/Emphysema) | 37.3 | -- | |||
| (Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis) | 24.6 | ||||
| (Cystic Fibrosis) | 14.9 | ||||
| (Other) | 23.2 | ||||
| Indication for transplant – % heart recipients | -- | ||||
| (Idiopathic myopathy) | -- | 37.0 | |||
| (Ischemic myopathy) | 38.0 | ||||
| (Other) | 25.0 | ||||
| Days in hospital post-transplant - % | 6.37 | .095 | |||
| ≤ 14 days | 41.4 | 37.3 | 46.3 | ||
| 15 – 21 days | 22.3 | 19.4 | 25.9 | ||
| 22–28 days | 13.6 | 15.7 | 11.1 | ||
| > 29 days | 22.7 | 27.6 | 16.7 | ||
| Physical functional status at 2 mos. post-transplant, Mean (SD) | 55.6 (25.2) | 54.0 (25.2) | 57.7 (25.1) | 1.11 | .267 |
| Acute rejection early posttransplant (% yes) | 39.3 | 40.3 | 38.0 | 0.14 | .711 |
| Caregiver Psychosocial Resourcesd,e | |||||
| Psychosocial Resources | |||||
| Optimism – Mean (SD) (1=low, 5=high) | 3.9 (0.7) | 3.9 (0.6) | 3.8 (0.7) | 1.12 | .263 |
| Mastery – Mean (SD) (1=low, 4=high) | 3.0 (0.5) | 3.1 (0.5) | 3.0 (0.5) | 1.06 | .288 |
| Relationship with recipient, % poor | 35.5 | 33.6 | 38.0 | 0.50 | .479 |
| Family support, % poor | 35.5 | 35.2 | 35.9 | 0.02 | .904 |
| Friend Support, % poor | 30.6 | 31.3 | 29.6 | 0.08 | .774 |
| Coping Strategies - Mean (SD), (1=low use, 5=high use) | |||||
| Active | 2.8 (0.9) | 2.9 (0.9) | 2.8 (0.9) | 0.31 | .755 |
| Seeking Support | 2.1 (0.6) | 2.1 (0.6) | 2.1 (0.6) | 0.36 | .719 |
| Acceptance | 2.2 (0.5) | 2.2 (0.5) | 2.2 (0.5) | 1.01 | .272 |
| Caregiving Burden - Mean (SD) | |||||
| No. of daily household tasks | 6.0 (2.3) | 5.9 (2.2) | 6.1 (2.5) | 0.56 | .577 |
| No. of nursing tasks (0=none, 1=one, 2=two or more) | 0.8 (.8) | 0.8 (0.8) | 0.8 (0.8) | 0.44 | .659 |
| Activities impairment (1=low, 5=high) | 2.3 (0.7) | 2.4 (0.7) | 2.3 (0.7) | 0.37 | .709 |
| Personal burden (1=low, 5=high) | 1.9 (0.5) | 1.9 (0.5) | 1.9 (0.6) | 0.02 | .981 |
t-tests for continuous variables and Chi-square tests for categorical variables.
Lung caregivers had missing data on: income (n=2), recipient physical functioning (n=1).
Heart caregivers had missing data on: recipient physical functioning (n=2).
Lung caregivers had missing data on: optimism (n=5), mastery (n=5), family support (n=6), coping measures (n=5), caregiver household tasks (n=3), nursing tasks (n=3), activities impairment (n=4), personal burden (n=4).
Heart caregivers had missing data on: optimism (n=1), mastery (n=3), family support (n=5), coping measures (n=4), caregiver household tasks (n=1), nursing tasks (n=2), activities impairment (n=1), personal burden (n=1).