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Table 1 Characteristics of participants (randomised at baseline, n = 359)

From: Brief telephone counselling is effective for caregivers who do not experience any major life events – caregiver-related outcomes of the German day-care study

Characteristics

Intervention group

Control group

Total

Test for group differences

(n = 205)

(n = 154)

(n = 359)

χ 2

T/U

p

Caregiver (CG)

 Age, M (SD)

59.5 (11.4)

59.3 (11.2)

59.5 (11.3)

 

−0.17a

.868

 Women, no. (%)

151 (73.7)

118 (76.6)

269 (74.9)

0.41

 

.521

 Educational attainment (yrs.), M (SD)b

10.8 (2.9)

10.8 (2.8)

10.8 (2.8)

 

−0.23

.815

 Occupation: Employed, no. (%)

111(54.1)

83 (53.9)

194 (54.0)

0.002

 

.962

 Marital status, no. (%)

   

2.67

 

.263

  Married/long-term relationship

157 (76.6)

125 (81.2)

282 (78.6)

   

  Widowed/divorced

26 (12.7)

20 (13.0)

46 (12.8)

   

  Single

22 (10.7)

9 (5.8)

31 (8.6)

   

 Relationship to PCI, no. (%)

   

1.00

 

.606

  spouse

52 (25.4)

43 (27.9)

95 (26.5)

   

  son/daughter (in-law)

139 (67.8)

104 (67.5)

243 (67.7)

   

  other

14 (6.8)

7 (4.5)

21 (5.8)

   

 Caregiver burden (BSFC-s), M (SD)

11.9 (8.2)

13.2 (7.6)

12.4 (8.0)

 

1.55

.122

 Depressiveness (WHO-5), M (SD)

12.0 (6.2)

12.0 (5.6)

12.0 (6.0)

 

0.02

.981

 Benefits (BIZA-D), M (SD)

12.6 (4.8)

12.6 (5.4)

12.6 (5.0)

 

−0.13

.898

 Health-related quality of life (EQ-5D-5 L),M (SD)

0.86 (0.2)

0.82 (0.2)

0.84 (0.2)

 

−1.67

.095

Person with cognitive impairment (PCI)

 Age, M (SD)

81.5 (7.5)

81.1 (7.5)

81.3 (7.5)

 

−0.61

.545

 Women, no. (%)

126 (61.5)

94 (61.0)

220 (61.3)

0.01

 

.935

 Educational attainment (yrs.), M (SD)

9.8 (2.5)

9.6 (2.1)

9.7 (2.3)

 

−0.56

.574

 Cognitive impairment (MMSE), M (SD)c

19.7 (4.8)

19.3 (4.8)

19.5 (4.8)

 

−0.92

.357

  mild cognitive impairment

25.8 (1.5)

26.3 (1.4)

26.0 (1.5)

 

1.27

.207

  mild dementia

20.6 (1.7)

20.5 (1.6)

20.6 (1.6)

 

−0.31

.757

  moderate dementia

14.4 (2.4)

14.6 (2.2)

14.5 (2.3)

 

0.28

.778

 Activities of daily living (ETAM), M (SD)

17.8 (7.0)

17.1 (7.5)

17.5 (7.2)

 

−0.89

.373

 Social behaviour (NOSGER), M (SD)

15.5 (4.2)

15.6 (4.6)

15.5 (4.3)

 

0.11

.912

 Neuropsychiatric symptomatology (NPI), M (SD)

5.2 (2.69)

5.4 (2.7)

5.3 (2.7)

 

0.60

.549

 Care level, no. (%)d

    

−0.19e

.852

  None

8 (3.9)

12 (7.8)

20 (5.6)

   

  0

25 (12.2)

15 (9.7)

40 (11.1)

   

  1

109 (53.2)

75 (48.7)

184 (51.3)

   

  2

61 (29.8)

50 (32.5)

111 (30.9)

   

  3

2 (1.0)

2 (1.3)

4 (1.1)

   

 Use of antidementia med., no. (%)f

61 (29.8)

40 (26.0)

101 (28.1)

0.62

 

.430

Care situation

 Main caregiver, no. (%)

178 (86.8)

139 (90.3)

317 (88.3)

1.002

 

.317

 Sole informal caregiver, no. (%)

110 (53.7)

83 (53.9)

193 (53.8)

0.002

 

.964

 Living together, no. (%)

86 (42.0)

68 (44.2)

154 (42.9)

0.174

 

.676

 Duration of informal care (mo.), M (SD)

60.3 (49.1)

59.0 (52.2)

59.7(50.4)

 

−0.24

.814

 Frequency day-care use, M (SD)g

2.0 (1.2)

1.9 (1.1)

1.9 (1.2)

 

−0.17

.866

 Informal care time per day (h), M (SD)h

3.0 (2.2)

3.3 (2.0)

3.1 (2.1)

 

1.09

.277

 No. of additional Formal Care Support, M (SD)i

1.6 (1.3)

1.6 (1.3)

1.6 (1.3)

 

0.26

.799

  1. M mean, SD standard deviation, BIZA-D Berlin Inventory of caregiver burden - dementia patients (score) - subscale Benefits, BSFC-s Burden Scale for Family Caregivers short (score), EQ-5D-5 L EuroQol five dimensions questionnaire, ETAM Erlangen test of activities of daily living in persons with mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment (score), MMSE Mini-Mental Status Examination (score), NOSGER Nurses’ Observation Scale for Geriatric Patients, NPI Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire WHO-5 Well-Being Index score
  2. at-tests are reported as metric variables, u-tests were also computed but not reported because they failed to indicate a different level of significance
  3. bmin. 7 yrs. (no compulsory school leaving certificate) - max. 18 yrs. (university degree)
  4. cmild cognitive impairment: MMSE 30–24 & Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) 0–22, mild dementia: MMSE 23–18, moderate dementia: MMSE 17–10
  5. dthe extent to which nursing care was needed according to the health insurance: none (no needs), 1 (moderate needs), 2 (high needs), and 3 (very high needs)
  6. eu-test
  7. fintake of memantine or acetylcholinesterase inhibitors
  8. gaverage frequency per week in the first month
  9. hhours of average informal care per day adjusted for day care attendance at baseline
  10. isum of formal care, support, in addition to day-care centre, maximum: 9 (caregiver skill training, counselling service for caregivers, support group for caregivers, domestic care service, care group, meals on wheels, respite care, outpatient care service, home-help service)
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BMC Health Services Research

ISSN: 1472-6963

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