Table 1.
Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the total study sample (n=560) and differences between physician-associated networks (n=203) and other networks (n=357)
| Variable | Measure | Statistic | Missing values* | Total n=560 |
Physician-associated networks n= 203 |
Other networks n=357 |
P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Years | Mean (SD) | 5 | 79.7 (8.4) | 77.9 (8.0) | 80.3 (8.8) | P≤0.001a |
| Sex | Female | Frequency | 3 | 325 (58.3%) | 100 (49.2%) | 225 (63.5%) | P≤0.001d |
| Social index | Scheuch–Winkler (index) | Frequency | 151 | ||||
| Low | 248 (60.6%) | 88 (59.1%) | 160 (61.5%) | P=0.164b | |||
| Middle | 121 (29.6%) | 41 (27.5%) | 80 (30.7%) | ||||
| High | 40 (9.8%) | 20 (13.4%) | 20 (7.7%) | ||||
| Formal diagnosis | Yes | Frequency | 18 | 503 (92.8%) | 177 (92.2%) | 326 (93.1%) | P=0.729d |
| Type of dementia | Frequency | 84 | |||||
| Alzheimer’s dementia | 211 (44.3%) | 81 (50.6%) | 130 (41.1%) | P=0.374b | |||
| Vascular dementia | 92 (19.3%) | 24 (15.0%) | 68 (21.5%) | ||||
| Unspecific | 155 (32.6%) | 50 (31.3%) | 105 (33.2%) | ||||
| Others | 18 (3.8%) | 5 (3.1%) | 13 (4.1%) | ||||
| Region | Rural | Frequency | 7 | 100 (18.1%) | 41 (20.4%) | 59 (16.8%) | P=0.302d |
| Living | Alone | Frequency | 2 | 119 (21.3%) | 34 (16.9%) | 85 (23.9%) | P=0.067d |
| Cognitive impairment | FAST stage (1–7) | Median | 20 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 | P≤0.005c |
| Functional status | IADL score (0–8) | Mean (SD) | 49 | 1.9 (1.8) | 2.8 (2.0) | 1.5 (1.6) | P≤0.005a |
| Comorbidity | Number of morbidities | Mean (SD) | 39 | 3.9 (2.1) | 3.6 (1.9) | 4 (2.2) | P=0.012a |
| Age (caregiver) | Years | Mean (SD) | 5 | 63.9 (12.9) | 66.0 (13.4) | 62.6 (12.5) | P≤0.005a |
| Sex (caregiver) | Female | Frequency | 5 | 416 (74.9%) | 147 (72.8%) | 269 (76.2%) | P=0.415d |
| Caregiver relationship | Yes | Frequency | 2 | ||||
| Spouse/partner | 280 (50.2%) | 129 (63.9%) | 151 (42.3%) | P≤0.001b | |||
| Daughter/son | 206 (36.9%) | 67 (33.2%) | 139 (39.0%) | ||||
| Daughter/son-in-law | 21 (3.8%) | 1 (0.5%) | 20 (5.6%) | ||||
| Others | 51 (9.1%) | 5 (2.5%) | 46 (12.9%) |
Notes:
*
Cases with missing values were excluded from the calculation of frequencies and means.
a
One-sample t-test;
b
chi-square test;
c
Mann–Whitney U test;
d
Fisher’s exact test.
Abbreviations: FAST, Functional Assessment Staging; IADL, Instrumental Activities of Daily Living; SD, standard deviation.