Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of persons with dementia and informal caregivers.
| Swedish Sample (n = 89) | Italian Sample (n = 317) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | Mean (SD) | % | Mean (SD) | p * | |
| Persons with dementia | |||||
| Age in years, (%) | - | 78.4 (7.8) | - | 81.5 (5.8) | 0.001 |
| Early old age (<69) | 11.2 | - | 3.5 | - | 0.009 |
| Middle old age (70–79) | 39.3 | - | 32.5 | - | |
| Later old age (80–89) | 44.9 | - | 59.3 | - | |
| Very old age (>90) | 4.5 | - | 4.7 | - | |
| Gender | |||||
| Men | 27.0 | - | 30.3 | - | 0.544 |
| Women | 73.0 | - | 69.7 | - | |
| Living situation | |||||
| Living alone | 47.2 | - | 15.1 | - | <0.001 |
| Husband/wife | 49.4 | - | 50.2 | - | |
| Child | 1.1 | - | 21.5 | - | |
| Other | 2.2 | - | 13.2 | - | |
| Comorbidity, n of diseases | - | 1.7 (1.1) | - | 2.2 (1.4) | 0.001 |
| Cognitive function, MMSE score (0–30) a | - | 19 (3.7) | - | 17.8 (2.3) | <0.001 |
| Mild (≥20) | 53.0 | - | 54 (17.0) | - | <0.001 |
| Moderate (10–19) | 47.0 | - | 263 (83.0) | - | |
| ADL scale (0–6) b | - | 0.2 (0.5) | - | 1.4 (1.5) | <0.001 |
| IADL scale (0–48) c | - | 25.2 (12.4) | - | 33.3 (14.2) | <0.001 |
| Informal caregivers | |||||
| Age-groups (%) d | |||||
| <39–54 | 29.6 | - | 39.1 | - | 0.051 |
| 55–69 | 39.8 | - | 31.2 | - | |
| >70 | 30.7 | - | 29.7 | - | |
| Gender d | |||||
| Men | 47.7 | - | 31.2 | - | 0.004 |
| Women | 52.3 | - | 68.8 | - | |
| Marital status d | |||||
| Married | 74.2 | - | 79.8 | - | 0.031 |
| Divorced/widowed | 2.2 | - | 7.9 | - | |
| Never married | 22.5 | - | 12.3 | - | |
| Occupation e | |||||
| Employee/self–employed | 50.0 | - | 46.1 | - | 0.001 |
| Job seeking | 4.7 | - | 3.8 | - | |
| Retired | 36.0 | - | 36.0 | - | |
| Sickness/activity allowance/sick leave f | 5.9 | - | 2.2 | - | |
| Other | 3.5 | - | 12.0 | - | |
| Level of education d | |||||
| Elementary school | 14.8 | - | 7.6 | - | 0.074 |
| Gymnasium | 36.4 | - | 33.8 | - | |
| University | 48.9 | - | 58.7 | - | |
| Relationship to the person with dementia d | |||||
| Wife/Husband | 43.2 | - | 30.9 | - | 0.038 |
| Child | 50.0 | - | 54.6 | - | |
| Other | 6.8 | - | 14.5 | - | |
| Living with the person with dementia | |||||
| Yes | 45.5 | - | 63.7 | - | 0.002 |
Data source for Sweden: TECH@HOME questionnaire. Data source for Italy: UP-TECH questionnaire; ADL, activities of daily living; IADL, instrumental activities of daily living; n, number of observations; MMSE, mini mental state examination; p value of significance; SD, standard deviation. a missing values, n = 6; b missing values, n = 2; c missing values, n = 4; d missing values, n = 1; e missing values, n = 3; f long term sick leave. * p < 0.05 was regarded as significant; significant p-values are underlined. Underlined values indicate positive results, e.g., 0–30.