Table 1. Functional health, health and socio-demographic characteristics of the sample of spouse care-givers by hours-of-care, United States 2000.
| Care-giving hours per week |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 |
<14 |
≥14 |
|||||
| Variable | N | % | N | % | N | % | p |
| Functional decline (2000–2002) | |||||||
| ADL limitations | 1,161 | 10.5 | 102 | 8.1 | 89 | 18.9 | <0.001 |
| IADL limitations | 728 | 6.5 | 66 | 11.3 | 59 | 12.3 | <0.001 |
| Age group (years) | <0.001 | ||||||
| <65 | 5,364 | 58.8 | 241 | 47.0 | 142 | 31.5 | |
| 65–74 | 3,178 | 27.9 | 169 | 28.2 | 168 | 36.3 | |
| ≥75 | 1,434 | 13.2 | 140 | 24.9 | 144 | 32.3 | |
| Gender | <0.001 | ||||||
| Men | 5,083 | 53.9 | 251 | 44.9 | 212 | 50.0 | |
| Women | 4,893 | 46.1 | 299 | 55.1 | 242 | 50.0 | |
| Race | <0.001 | ||||||
| White | 8,707 | 90.8 | 436 | 84.5 | 362 | 85.4 | |
| Black | 943 | 6.1 | 81 | 10.4 | 72 | 11.0 | |
| Other | 308 | 3.2 | 33 | 5.1 | 20 | 3.6 | |
| Education (years) | <0.001 | ||||||
| <12 | 2,276 | 19.8 | 196 | 30.6 | 189 | 39.4 | |
| 12 | 3,448 | 34.2 | 189 | 36.9 | 154 | 35.2 | |
| ≥12 | 4,219 | 46.0 | 164 | 32.4 | 111 | 25.4 | |
| Net worth US$ (quartile) | <0.001 | ||||||
| ≤42,900 | 1,362 | 12.1 | 153 | 25.9 | 152 | 30.8 | |
| 42,901–129,000 | 2,204 | 21.5 | 152 | 26.1 | 119 | 27.8 | |
| 129,001–310,900 | 2,623 | 26.4 | 126 | 24.4 | 106 | 23.6 | |
| ≥310,901 | 3,787 | 40.1 | 119 | 23.6 | 77 | 17.8 | |
| Health-related behaviours | |||||||
| Smokes cigarettes now | 1,356 | 14.0 | 89 | 14.7 | 55 | 11.5 | 0.4 |
| Drinks alcohol | 3,252 | 35.3 | 102 | 18.0 | 75 | 16.4 | <0.001 |
| Takes vigorous exercise | 4,885 | 50.0 | 224 | 41.6 | 170 | 38.3 | <0.001 |
| Body Mass Index | 0.2 | ||||||
| <18.5 | 77 | 0.8 | 10 | 1.2 | 11 | 2.1 | |
| 18.5–24.9 | 3,160 | 31.6 | 154 | 30.1 | 135 | 31.5 | |
| 25.0–29.9 | 4,133 | 42.5 | 227 | 41.4 | 194 | 42.0 | |
| ≥30.0 | 2,479 | 25.1 | 149 | 27.2 | 109 | 24.5 | |
| Health condition | |||||||
| High blood pressure | 4,656 | 44.5 | 465 | 3.8 | 241 | 52.7 | 0.003 |
| Diabetes | 1,412 | 12.8 | 277 | 48.0 | 77 | 15.2 | 0.04 |
| Lung disease | 729 | 6.9 | 99 | 16.5 | 49 | 11.5 | 0.002 |
| Heart disease | 1,934 | 18.0 | 49 | 7.8 | 126 | 27.7 | <0.001 |
| Cancer | 1,080 | 10.3 | 146 | 26.2 | 52 | 11.2 | 0.8 |
| Stroke | 510 | 4.5 | 64 | 10.8 | 29 | 7.1 | 0.1 |
| Psychiatric problem | 1,163 | 10.9 | 27 | 4.9 | 72 | 14.6 | 0.006 |
| Incontinence | 1,508 | 14.3 | 80 | 14.0 | 85 | 19.1 | <0.001 |
| Dementia | 465 | 3.8 | 104 | 20.0 | 42 | 8.6 | <0.001 |
| Spouse’s Nagi function | <0.001 | ||||||
| 0 | 4,155 | 43.1 | 43 | 7.4 | 36 | 8.3 | |
| 1–3 | 4,109 | 40.5 | 155 | 29.8 | 150 | 32.9 | |
| 4–6 | 1,419 | 13.9 | 227 | 41.5 | 167 | 37.5 | |
| 7–9 | 293 | 2.6 | 125 | 21.3 | 101 | 21.3 | |
| Sample size | 9,976 | 550 | 454 | ||||
Notes: The data source was the 2000 and 2002 Health and Retirement Study. The total sample size was 10,980. Data were weighted and adjusted for the complex sampling design. The significance levels were obtained with a design-based Pearson chi-squared test.