Table 1.
Selected Characteristics of the Spouse Caregivers and Care Recipients Across the Three Time points
| Domain | Measures | T1 (n = 995) | T2 (n = 780) | T3 (n = 601) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caregiver age | Caregiver age in years (mean, SD, missing) | 72.4 (8.3), n = 0 | 73.2 (8.0), n = 2 | 73.7 (8.0), n = 0 |
| Caregiver/care recipient sex (n, %) | Female/male | 656 (65.9%) | 510 (65.4%) | 388 (64.6%) |
| Male/female | 332 (33.4%) | 263 (33.7%) | 207 (34.4%) | |
| Female/female | 6 (0.6%) | 6 (0.8%) | 5 (0.8%) | |
| Male/male | 1 (0.1%) | 1 (0.1%) | 1 (0.2%) | |
| Caregiver education (n, %) | No qualifications | 249 (25.0%) | 186 (23.8%) | 137 (22.8%) |
| School leaving certificate at 16 | 222 (22.3%) | 180 (23.1%) | 138 (23.0%) | |
| School leaving certificate at 18 | 294 (29.5%) | 220 (28.2%) | 172 (28.6%) | |
| University | 226 (22.7%) | 185 (23.7%) | 147 (24.5%) | |
| Missing | 4 (0.4%) | 9 (1.2%) | 7 (1.2%) | |
| Caregiver social class (n, %) | High | 441 (44.3%) | 348 (44.6%) | 275 (45.8%) |
| Middle | 389 (39.1%) | 302 (38.7%) | 233 (38.8%) | |
| Low | 76 (7.6%) | 57 (7.3%) | 42 (7.0%) | |
| Missing | 89 (8.9%) | 73 (9.4%) | 51 (8.5%) | |
| Hours of care per day (n, %) | Under 1 hr | 204 (20.5%) | 116 (14.9%) | 65 (10.8%) |
| 1–10 hr | 356 (35.8%) | 270 (34.6%) | 217 (36.1%) | |
| 10+ hr | 424 (42.6%) | 371 (47.6%) | 312 (51.9%) | |
| Missing | 11 (1.1%) | 23 (2.9%) | 7 (1.2%) | |
| Caregiver “living well” scores | WHOQOL factor score (mean, SD, missing) | 0.08 (2.0), n = 37 | −0.12 (2.1), n = 41 | −0.29 (2.1), n = 31 |
| WHO-5 (mean, SD, missing) | 55.3 (19.7), n = 28 | 54.1 (20.3), n = 36 | 52.4 (20.2), n = 27 | |
| SwLS (mean, SD, missing) | 23.8 (6.4), n = 30 | 22.2 (6.8), n = 42 | 21.6 (6.6), n = 30 | |
| Care recipient diagnosis (n, %) | AD | 564 (56.7%) | 442 (56.7%) | 348 (57.9%) |
| VaD | 103 (10.4%) | 70 (9.0%) | 55 (9.2%) | |
| Mixed AD/VaD | 192 (19.3%) | 164 (21.0%) | 119 (19.8%) | |
| FTD | 41 (4.1%) | 34 (4.4%) | 28 (4.7%) | |
| PDD/DLB | 68 (6.8%) | 53 (6.8%) | 37 (6.2%) | |
| Unspecified/other | 27 (2.7%) | 17 (2.2%) | 14 (2.3%) |
Notes: AD = Alzheimer’s disease; VaD = vascular dementia; FTD = frontotemporal dementia; PDD = Parkinson’s disease dementia; DLB = dementia with Lewy bodies; WHOQOL = World Health Organization Quality of Life; WHO-5 = World Health Organization-Five well-being index; SwLS = Satisfaction with Life Scale; SD = standard deviation.