Table 1 Baseline characteristics of persons with dementia and informal caregivers in Sweden and Italy
Persons with dementia | Informal caregiver | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Characteristicss | Country | Characteristics | Country | ||
Italy (n = 317) N (%) | Sweden (n = 89) N (%) | Italy (n = 317) N (%) | Sweden (n = 89) N (%) | ||
Gender | Gender c | ||||
Male | 96 (30.3) | 24 (27.0) | Male | 99 (31.2) | 42 (47.7) |
Female | 221 (69.7) | 65 (73.0) | Female | 218 (68.8) | 46 (52.3) |
Age (years) | Age (years) c | ||||
< 69 | 11 (3.5) | 10 (11.2) | < 39 | 7 (2.2) | 5 (5.7) |
70–79 | 103 (32.5) | 35 (39.3) | 40–54 | 117 (36.9) | 21 (23.9) |
80–89 | 188 (59.3) | 40 (44.9) | 55–69 | 99 (31.2) | 35 (39.8) |
> 90 | 15 (4.7) | 4 (4.5) | > 70 | 94 (29.7) | 27 (30.7) |
Living situation | Living with persons with dementia c | ||||
Living alone | 48 (15.1) | 42 (47.2) | No | 114 (36.0) | 48 (54.5) |
Spouse | 159 (50.2) | 44 (49.4) | Yes | 200 (63.1) | 40 (45.5) |
Child | 68 (21.5) | 1 (1.1) | Relationship with persons with dementia | ||
Other | 42 (13.2) | 2 (2.2) | Spouse | 98 (30.9) | 38 (43.2) |
Severity of disease, MMSE a | Child | 173 (54.6) | 44 (50.0) | ||
Normal (25–30) | 2 (0.6) | 1 (1.2) | Other | 46 (14.5) | 6 (6.8) |
Mild (21–24) | 21 (6.6) | 30 (36.1) | Marital status c | ||
Moderate (10–20) | 294 (92.7) | 52 (62.7) | Married | 253 (79.8) | 66 (75.0) |
Inappropriate behaviours b | Not Married | 64 (20.2) | 22 (25) | ||
No | 236 (74.4) | 56 (71.8) | Education c | ||
Yes | 81 (25.6) | 22 (28.2) | Elementary School | 186 (58.7) | 43 (48.9) |
ADL dependency | Gymnasium/ Secondary | 107 (33.8) | 32 (36.4) | ||
0–2 | 258 (81.4) | 87 (97.8) | University | 24 (7.6) | 13 (14.8) |
3–6 | 59 (18.6) | 2 (2.2) | Occupation d | ||
Not actively working | 171 (53.9) | 43 (50.0) | |||
Actively working | 146 (46.1) | 43 (50.0) | |||
Disease count c | 1.09 ± 1.31 | 0.88 ± 0.99 | |||
Additional caregiver support c | |||||
No additional help | 60 (18.9) | 44 (50.0) | |||
Yes additional help | 257 (81.1) | 44 (50.0) | |||
Number of additional caregivers c | 1.15 ± 0.86 | 0.97 ± 1.23 | |||
Total hours of caregiving/ day d | 6.28 ± 6.44 | 3.67 ± 4.11 | |||