Table 1.
African American Dementia Dyad Characteristics and Differences Among Patterns (ANOVA, χ 2)
| Characteristics (± SD or %) | Overall sample (N = 62) | Incongruent, PLWD Low Involvement (n = 12) | Incongruent, PLWD Moderate Involvement (n = 33) | Congruent, PLWD High Involvement (n = 17) | p Value | Effect size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PLWD age in years | 76.55 ± 7.84 | 78.75 ± 8.08a | 77.85 ± 6.81b | 71.93 ± 8.43a,b | .067a, .042b | 0.39 |
| CG age in years | 60.50 ± 13.35 | 56.83 ± 8.72a,c | 62.79 ± 12.82a,b | 58.64 ± 16.57b,c | .570a, .902b, 1.00c | 0.33 |
| PLWD female | 42 (68%) | 9 (75%) | 19 (58%) | 14 (82%) | .190 | 0.24 |
| CG female | 50 (81%) | 11 (92%) | 27 (82%) | 12 (71%) | .426 | 0.18 |
| PLWD married/ partnered | 21 (34%) | 1 (8%) | 17 (52%) | 3 (18%) | .029 | 0.29 |
| CG married/ partnered | 37 (60%) | 3 (25%) | 26 (79%) | 8 (47%) | .004 | 0.37 |
| PLWD living with CG | 40 (65%) | 8 (67%) | 25 (75%) | 7 (41%) | <.001 | 0.50 |
| Family structure | ||||||
| Type of CG, spouse/ partnerd | 19 (31%) | 1 (8%) | 14 (42%) | 4 (24%) | .078 | 0.30 |
| Instrumental role functions | ||||||
| PLWD greater than HS | 14 (23%) | 1 (8%) | 9 (27%) | 4 (24%) | .458 | 0.16 |
| CG greater than HS | 35 (56%) | 5 (42%) | 21 (64%) | 9 (53%) | .431 | 0.17 |
| PLWD MMSE score | 21.08 ± 3.94 | 18.33 ± 3.21a | 20.65 ± 3.74b | 23.86 ± 3.16a,b | <.001 a, .010b | 0.13 |
| Income,e ≥$30K/year | 31 (50%) | 4 (33%) | 21 (64%) | 6 (35%) | .029 | 0.36 |
| Expressive role functions | ||||||
| PLWD dyadic strain | 0.84 ± 0.57 | 0.92 ± 0.46 | 0.84 ± 0.65 | 0.79 ± 0.51 | 1.00 | 0.02 |
| CG dyadic strain | 1.01 ± 0.47 | 1.15 ± 0.39a,b | 1.04 ± 0.55a,c | 0.87 ± 0.33b,c | 1.00a, .366b, .733c | 0.06 |
| PLWD POS interaction | 2.14 ± 0.52 | 2.06 ± 0.62 | 2.17 ± 0.56 | 2.15 ± 0.40 | 1.00 | 0.13 |
| CG POS interaction | 1.88 ± 0.54 | 1.71 ± 0.38a,b | 1.95 ± 0.62a,c | 1.88 ± 0.49b,c | .608a, 1.00b,c | 0.30 |
| Outcome | ||||||
| PLWD QOL | 34.34 ± 5.80 | 31.25 ± 4.71a | 35.94 ± 6.33a | 33.41 ± 4.42 | .047 a | 0.60 |
| CG QOL | 37.41 ± 6.34 | 35.33 ± 6.88a,b | 38.73 ± 6.17ba,c | 36.25 ± 6.04b,c | .342a, 1.00b, .601c | 0.46 |
Note: ANOVA = analysis of variance; CG = caregiver; HS = high school; MMSE = Mini-Mental State Examination; PLWD = person living with dementia; POS = positive; QOL = quality of life; SD = standard deviation. p Value = ANOVA with Bonferroni correction and chi-square with Fischer’s exact test. Effect size = Hedge’s g (small = 0.2, medium = 0.5, and large = 0.8) and Cramer’s V (small = 0.1, medium = 0.3, and large = 0.5). Bold values indicate p values <.05.
a b,cWithin a row, difference between means without a common superscript.
dSpouse is the referent.
eHousehold income.