Table 1.
Characteristics of population sample by wave.
| Wave 3 | Wave 4 | Wave 5 | COVID Wave 6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | 3599 | 3544 | 3423 | 3670 |
| Age, mean (sd) | 65.2 (8.6) | 67.4 (8.5) | 69.3 (8.5) | 70.9 (8.5) |
| Sex, n (%) | ||||
| Female | 1630 (52.7) | |||
| Male | 2037 (47.3) | |||
| Educational attainment, n (%) | ||||
| Primary | 683 (36.3) | |||
| Secondary | 1461 (43.2) | |||
| Tertiary | 1518 (20.6) | |||
| Married, n (%) | ||||
| Married | 2625 (69.6) | 2537 (68.3) | 2395 (67.1) | 2566 (67.1) |
| Never married | 295 (8.4) | 296 (8.5) | 288 (8.2) | 297 (8.2) |
| Separated/divorced | 261 (7.8) | 257 (7.7) | 240 (7.4) | 257 (7.4) |
| Widowed | 418 (14.2) | 454 (15.5) | 500 (17.3) | 524 (17.3) |
| Area of residence | ||||
| Dublin | 949 (25.2) | |||
| Other urban | 990 (28.1) | |||
| Rural | 1660 (46.7) | |||
| Informal caringa | ||||
| Caring in last month (overall) | 339 (8.2) | 240 (6.2) | 235 (6.3) | 568 (15.4) |
| Transitions in caring statusb | ||||
| No Caring | 2623 (74.6) | |||
| No Caring – previous carer stopped prior to COVID | 426 (11.0) | |||
| Continued caring | 177 (4.2) | |||
| New Carer | 386 (10.2) | |||
| State-Provided formal care | ||||
| State-provided care attendant | ||||
| No care attendant received | 3783 | 3721 | 3576 | 3044 (92.2) |
| Care received prior to COVID-19 | 4 (0.1) | 9 (0.2) | 24 (0.8) | |
| Continued to receive care attendant | 23 (1.3) | |||
| No longer received care attendant | 178 (6.6) | |||
| State-provided home help prior to COVID-19 | ||||
| No home help received | 3627 (98.5) | 3607 (96.2) | 3600 (95.4) | |
| Any home help received (state or private)c |
136 (3.8) |
149 (4.6) |
||
| State-provided home help State-provided home help during COVID-19 pandemic |
38 (1.4) | 55 (1.8) | 68 (2.5) | |
| No care received | 3009 (91.0) | |||
| Continued to receive home help | 63 (2.0) | |||
| No longer received home help | 181 (6.4) | |||
| Mental health and well-being | ||||
| Quality of life (CASP-12) mean (sd) | 27.1 (5.4) | 27.7 (5.3) | 27.7 (5.1) | 27.5 (5.4) |
| Perceived Stress (PSS4) mean (sd) | 4.0 (3.0) | 4.0 (3.0) | 4.0 (3.0) | 4.7 (2.8) |
| Depressive Symptoms (CES-D8) mean (sd) | 3.2 (3.9) | 3.1 (3.7) | 3.1 (3.6) | 5.3 (4.2) |
Note: All prevalences are weighted to account for survey design clusters and attrition. c: Receipt of private home help was only asked from Wave 4 onwards; a: data missing on informal caring for 7, 6, 13 and 22 participants respectively in Waves 3-6. b: Excludes 5 participants who report caring in Wave 6 but did not take part in Wave3-Wave 5 so no previous caring status known; c: Receipt of private home help was only asked from Wave 4 onwards.