Table 5.
Association of caregiver and patient characteristics with outpatient medical follow-up (specialist outpatient care) 4–12 months post-stroke
| Variable | Reference category | SOC visits (4 - 12 months) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IRR (95% CI) | P-value | aIRRa (95% CI) | P-value | ||
| Caregiver factors | |||||
| Age (in years) | 0.997 (0.993, 1.001) | 0.176 | |||
| Gender | Male | 0.986 (0.863, 1.127) | 0.834 | ||
| Ethnicity | Non-Chinese | 1.355 (1.202, 1.527) | 0.000 | ||
| Marital status | Single | 1.007 (0.876, 1.157) | 0.927 | ||
| Caregiver relationship | Spouse | <0.001 | |||
| Adult-child | 1.257 (1.110, 1.423) | ||||
| Sibling | 1.282 (0.974, 1.688) | ||||
| Others | 0.823 (0.632, 1.071) | ||||
| Comorbid conditions | None | 0.966 | |||
| 1 | 0.983 (0.853, 1.133) | ||||
| 2 | 1.006 (0.824, 1.227) | ||||
| ≥3 | 0.950 (0.768, 1.175) | ||||
| Co-residing with patient | No | 1.254 (1.030, 1.527) | 0.024 | 1.576 (1.040, 2.389) | 0.032 |
| Caring for multiple care recipients | No | 0.996 (0.887, 1.118) | 0.944 | ||
| Revised memory and behavior checklist | |||||
| Memory problems | 1.011 (1.002, 1.021) | 0.016 | |||
| Depressive behavior problems | 1.013 (1.002, 1.025) | 0.018 | |||
| Disruptive behavior problems | 1.017 (1.002, 1.032) | 0.024 | |||
| Caregiver burden | |||||
| Oberst caregiving burden scale | 1.017 (1.013, 1.022) | <0.001 | |||
| Zarit burden interview | 1.016 (1.010, 1.023) | <0.001 | |||
| Family conflict | |||||
| Attitude towards patient | 0.983 (0.971, 0.995) | 0.007 | |||
| Attitude towards caregiver | 0.984 (0.971, 0.996) | 0.012 | |||
| Social support (instrumental) | |||||
| FDW for general help | No | 0.755 (0.660, 0.864) | <0.001 | ||
| FDW for stroke patient | No | 1.414 (1.216, 1.644) | <0.001 | ||
| Social support (perceived) | 0.984 (0.973, 0.995) | 0.005 | |||
| Care management strategies | |||||
| Positive strategies | 1.006 (1.001, 1.011) | 0.027 | |||
| Negative strategies | 1.035 (1.024, 1.046) | <0.001 | 1.033 (1.005, 1.061) | 0.021 | |
| Patient factors | |||||
| Age (in years) | 0.995 (0.990, 1.001) | 0.101 | |||
| Gender | Male | 1.083 (0.963, 1.219) | 0.183 | ||
| Ethnicity | Non-Chinese | 1.357 (1.204, 1.530) | <0.001 | ||
| Marital status | Single | 0.862 (0.751, 0.990) | 0.035 | ||
| Ward class | Unsubsidized | 0.975 (0.794, 1.198) | 0.808 | ||
| CCI | 1 - 3 | <0.001 | |||
| 4 - 6 | 1.175 (1.004, 1.375) | ||||
| >= 7 | 1.601 (1.330, 1.927) | ||||
| Stroke type | Non-ischemic | 0.904 (0.760, 1.075) | 0.253 | ||
| Recurrent stroke | No | 1.175 (1.015, 1.361) | 0.030 | ||
| National Institute of Health Scale | Mild (0-4) | <0.001 | |||
| Moderately severe (5-14) | 1.237 (1.098, 1.392) | ||||
| Severe (15-24) | 1.359 (1.075, 1.718) | ||||
| Modified rankin scale | No or slight disability (0-2) | ||||
| Moderate or severe disability (3-5) | 1.520 (1.344, 1.719) | <0.001 | 1.564 (1.197, 2.043) | 0.001 | |
| Mini-mental state examination | No cognitive impairment (24-30) | 0.007 | |||
| Mild cognitive impairment (18-23) | 1.078 (0.939, 1.237) | ||||
| Severe cognitive impairment (1-17) | 1.266 (1.092, 1.466) | ||||
| Discharge to community hospital | No | 1.475 (1.307, 1.665) | <0.001 | 1.362 (1.015, 1.826) | 0.039 |
| Centre for epidemiological studies depression scale | 0.996 (0.985, 1.007) | 0.445 | |||
Abbreviations: IRR incidence rate ratio, aIRR adjusted incidence rate ratio, CI confidence interval, FDW foreign domestic worker
aModel adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity and ward class of the patient