Table 2.

Characteristics and burden of caregivers

	Family caregivers (n=25)	Professional caregivers (n=25)	Comparison sample (n=594)a	Family caregivers versus comparison sample	Family caregivers versus professional caregivers
Sex (male/female)	12%/88%	32%/68%	21%/79%	–	–
Age (years)	m=63.8	m=36.3	m=60.0	t=1.54	t=9.69
	SD=12.18	SD=11.11	SD=11.40	p=0.136	p<0.01*
range=36–88	range=20–60	range=28–91
Duration of care (years)	m=3.6	m=5.0	m=3.5	t=0.09	t=−1.67
	SD=2.96	SD=3.98	SD=2.70	p=0.929	p=0.109
	range=0.5–10	range=0.3–15
n=23
Burden due to cognitive impairment (range 0–16)	m=8.12	m=4.72	m=9.11	t=−1.30	t=3.30
SD=3.82	SD=3.68	SD=4.44	p=0.208	p<0.01*
Burden due to aggressive and disoriented behavior (range 0–20)	m=8.84	m=4.12	m=7.93	t=0.89	t=4.27
SD=5.10	SD=3.93	SD=5.20	p=0.382	p<0.01*
Burden due to care tasks (range 0–36)	m=16.92	m=16.20	m=26.55	t=−4.51	t=0.30
SD=10.68	SD=7.92	SD=9.20	p<0.01*	p=0.767
Burden due to personal constraints (range 0–20)	m=11.04	m=9.08	m=12.21	t=−1.55	–
SD=3.77	SD=3.88	SD=5.15	p=0.134
Burden due to missing social appreciation (range 0–24)	m=7.64	m=9.88	m=10.58	t=−2.81	–
SD=5.23	SD=4.39	SD=5.22	p=0.010*
Acceptance of caring (range 0–16)b	m=10.68	m=9.68	m=11.91	t=−1.58	–
SD=3.90	SD=3.87	SD=3.42	p=0.128

Notes: ^aSample of family caregivers described by Zank et al.^11,16 bDimension is interpreted in a different way, the higher the score, the higher the positive outcome from caregiving. *Statistically significant p-value.

Abbreviations: n, sample size; m, mean; SD, standard deviation.