Table 2.
Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of individuals sharing a household with persons with dementia being the primarily informal caregiver and other person in the household
| Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics | Individuals sharing a household with persons with dementia being the primarily informal caregiver (n = 60) | Other household members of persons with dementia (n = 153) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Measurement points: n | |||
| 4 years before diagnosis | 47 | 99 | |
| 2 years before diagnosis | 57 | 116 | |
| Year when dementia was diagnosed | 60 | 133 | |
| 2 years after diagnosis | 28 | 70 | |
| 4 years after diagnosis | 8 | 42 | |
| 6 years after diagnosis | 3 | 25 | |
| Age: mean (SD) | 69 (14) | 52 (26) | ** |
| Female gender: n (%) | 35 (58) | 52 (39) | |
| Marital status: n (%) | |||
| Married (ref.) | 37 (62) | 77 (58) | |
| Single | 9 (15) | 45 (34) | |
| Widowed | 8 (13) | 6 (5) | |
| Divorced | 5 (8) | 1 (0) | |
| Separated | 1 (2) | 4 (3) | |
| Educational level: n (%) | |||
| No school-leaving qualification | 2 (3) | 23 (17) | |
| Certificate after grade 9 (ref.) | 26 (44) | 59 (44) | |
| Certificate after grade 10 | 13 (22) | 28 (21) | |
| Higher education entrance qualification (grade 11) | 2 (3) | 3 (2) | |
| Higher education entrance qualification (grade 12/13) | 12 (20) | 14 (11) | |
| Other | 5 (8) | 6 (5) | |
| Number of diseases: mean (SD) | 2.4 (1.8) | 1.7 (2.0) | |
| Number of persons in the household: mean (SD) | 2.3 (0.8) | 2.4 (1.2) | |
| Health-related quality of life: mean (SD) | |||
| PCS | 42.6 (9.5) | 43.8 (11.0) | |
| MCS | 47.4 (10.4) | 46.0 (12.5) | |
| SF-6D index | 0.65 (0.12) | 0.66 (0.15) |
Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics are presented for the year when dementia was diagnosed; p-value: comparison of categorical characteristics of individuals sharing a household with persons with dementia being the primarily informal caregiver and other persons in the household were analyzed using Pearson's χ2 test; comparison of mean age, number of diseases, number of persons in the household and health-related quality of life was analyzed using Student's t-test
PCS Physical Component Summary, MCS Mental Component Summary, SF-6D Short-Form 6-Dimensions, ref. reference group
*p ≤ 0.007, **p ≤ 0.001