Table 1.

Characteristics of Participating Informal Caregivers and Persons with Dementia (in Percentages)

Informal Caregivers	Stages of Dementiaa			Total N=1494	p
	< 1 Year N=89	1-4 Years N=744	≥ 4 Years N=661
Age					0.03
< 45 years old	1.1	6.2	3.7	4.8
45 - 65 years old	50.0	42.9	39.1	41.6
65 - 85 years old	46.6	47.4	54.5	50.5
≥ 85 years old	2.3	3.6	2.6	3.1
Gender					0.43
female	77.5	70.9	71.8	71.7
male	22.5	29.1	28.2	28.3
Relationship to the Person with Dementia					0.00*
spouse	54.5	53.1	64.4	58.2
son/daughter (in-law)	29.5	41.5	31.6	36.4
other	15.9	5.4	4.0	5.4
Frequency of Providing Informal Care					0.64
daily	58.4	58.5	63.3	60.6
3-6 times a week	19.1	19.0	16.3	17.8
1-2 times a week	16.9	18.4	16.8	17.6
< 1 time a week	5.6	4.1	3.6	4.0
Persons with Dementia
Age					0.00*
< 45 years old	0.0	0.1	0.2	0.1
45 - 65 years old	10.3	3.7	8.6	6.3
65 - 85 years old	72.4	69.8	69.4	69.8
≥ 85 years old	17.2	26.3	21.9	23.8
Gender					0.43
female	55.1	55.0	51.6	53.5
male	44.9	45.0	48.4	46.5
Current Living Situation					0.00*
in his/her own home or with a child	85.4	79.6	65.3	73.6
in nursing home or home for the elderly	14.6	20.4	34.7	26.4

^*Differences between the stages of dementia are statistically significant (chi-square test, p < 0.01)

^aEvaluated by the informal caregiver.