Table 3.
Time spent in informal caregiving and psychological health of informal caregivers.
| Swedish Sample (n = 89) | Italian sample (n = 317) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N (%) | Mean (SD) | p * | N (%) | Mean (SD) | p * | |
| Patients characteristics | ||||||
| Age in years | 0.205 | 0.230 | ||||
| <69 | 10 (11.4) | 3.22 (3.63) | 11 (3.5) | 3.96 (3.49) | ||
| 70–79 | 35 (39.8) | 3.92 (3.27) | 103 (32.5) | 6.26 (6.98) | ||
| 80–89 | 39 (44.3) | 3.74 (5.03) | 188 (59.3) | 6.23 (6.13) | ||
| >90 | 4 (4.5) | 1.80 (0.91) | 15 (4.7) | 8.64 (7.72) | ||
| Gender | 0.351 | 0.006 | ||||
| Male | 24 (27.3) | 3.60 (2.65) | 96 (30.3) | 7.47 (6.72) | ||
| Female | 64 (62.7) | 3.69 (4.55) | 221 (69.7) | 5.76 (6.26) | ||
| MMSE, score (0–30) | 0.006 | 0.244 | ||||
| Mild (≥20) | 43 (52.4) | 2.98 (3.63) | 54 (17.0) | 6.11 (6.80) | ||
| Moderate (10–19) | 39 (47.6) | 4.44 (4.55) | 263 (83.0) | 6.31 (6.38) | ||
| ADL scale score (0–6) | 0.304 | 0.002 | ||||
| 0 | 74 (84.1) | 3.24 (3.30) | 125 (39.4) | 4.73 (5.26) | ||
| 1 | 8 (9.1) | 6.69 (7.49) | 72 (22.7) | 7.26 (7.13) | ||
| 2 | 4 (4.5) | 5.59 (7.65) | 61 (19.2) | 7.26 (7.17) | ||
| 3 or more | 2 (2.3) | 3.50 (0.71) | 59 (18.7) | 7.32 (6.55) | ||
| IADL scale score (0–48) | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||
| 1–22 | 32 (38.1) | 2.66 (3.70) | 74 (23.3) | 3.30 (3.48) | ||
| 23–35 | 34 (40.5) | 3.31 (2.42) | 69 (21.8) | 6.79 (6.71) | ||
| 36–43 | 13 (15.5) | 5.91 (4.35) | 81 (25.6) | 6.62 (6.68) | ||
| 44–48 | 5 (5.9) | 9.35 (8.93) | 93 (29.3) | 7.97 (7.10) | ||
| Formal Caregiver | ||||||
| No | 53 (60.9) | 3.62 (3.82) | 0.910 | 226 (71.3) | 6.79 (6.93) | 0.062 |
| Yes | 34 (39.1) | 3.68 (4.62) | 91 (28.7) | 4.99 (4.81) | ||
| Caregivers characteristics | ||||||
| Gender | 0.515 | 0.697 | ||||
| Male | 42 (47.7) | 3.76 (4.41) | 99 (31.2) | 5.81 (5.56) | ||
| Female | 46 (52.3) | 3.58 (3.86) | 218 (68.8) | 6.49 (6.80) | ||
| Status in employment | 0.036 | <0.001 | ||||
| Employed | 43 (50.0) | 3.28 (4.38) | 146 (46.1) | 3.35 (3.09) | ||
| Not employed | 43 (50.0) | 3.74 (3.01) | 171 (53.9) | 8.77 (7.44) | ||
| Living conditions | 0.015 | 0.170 | ||||
| Living with the PwD | 40 (45.5) | 3.98 (3.18) | 200 (63.7) | 6.33 (6.22) | ||
| Not living with the PwD | 48 (54.5) | 3.40 (4.77) | 114 (36.3) | 6.23 (6.91) | ||
| HADS Score Depression (0–21) | 0.017 | |||||
| Normal (0–7) | 75 (86.3) | 2.95 (3.20) | 169 (53.3) | 5.95 (6.30) | 0.218 | |
| Mild (8–10) | 9 (10.3) | 7.54 (5.61) | 79 (24.9) | 7.74 (7.65) | ||
| Moderate (11–14) | 3 (3.4) | 8.78 (9.79) | 47 (14.9) | 5.55 (5.28) | ||
| Severe (15–21) | 0 (0.0) | 22 (6.9) | 5.10 (4.03) | |||
| HADS Score Anxiety (0–21) | 0.354 | 0.732 | ||||
| Normal (0–7) | 83 (95.4) | 3.58 (4.14) | 202 (63.7) | 6.55 (6.60) | ||
| Mild (8–10) | 4 (4.6) | 4.65 (3.79) | 57 (18.0) | 5.68 (6.43) | ||
| Moderate (11–14) | 0 (0.0) | 42 (13.3) | 5.30 (5.00) | |||
| Severe (15–21) | 0 (0.0) | 16 (5.0) | 7.56 (7.79) | |||
| Total sample | 86 (100) | 3.50 (3.74) | n.a. | 317 | 6.27 (6.44) | n.a. |
Data source for Sweden: TECH@HOME questionnaire. Data source for Italy: UP-TECH questionnaire. HADS, hospital anxiety and depression scale; p = p-value; n.a, not applicable; p, p-value; PwD, person with dementia; MMSE, mini mental state examination; SD, standard deviation. * p < 0.05 was regarded as significant; significant p-values are underlined. Underlining of values indicates positive results, e.g., 0–30.