Table 1 Characteristics of the family caregivers and the persons with spinal cord injury
Characteristics | Statistics N = 679 |
|---|---|
Characteristics of the family caregiver | |
Sex–n (%) | |
Male | 188 (27.7) |
Female | 488 (71.9) |
Age in years–mean (std) | 57.3 (13.9) |
Language region–n (%) | |
German | 498 (73.3) |
French | 146 (21.5) |
Italian | 28 (4.1) |
Relationship to the SCI person–n (%) | |
Spouse/life partner | 517 (76.1) |
Mother/father | 89 (13.1) |
Child | 35 (5.2) |
Sibling | 19 (2.8) |
Other relative | 7 (1.0) |
Living in the same household with the person with SCI–n (%) | 572 (84.2) |
Perceived quality of life–n (%) | |
Very good | 150 (22.1) |
Good | 372 (54.8) |
Neither good nor bad | 131 (19.3) |
Bad | 10 (1.5) |
Very bad | 3 (0.4) |
Characteristics of caregiving situation | |
Used at least one kind of respite or support during the last 12 months–n (%) | |
Yes | 239 (35.2) |
No | 440 (64.8) |
Duration since taking care in years–median (Q25–Q75) | 9 (4–19) |
Time investment in caregiving in hours per week–median (Q25–Q75) | 12 (5–30) |
Other informal caregivers involved–n (%) | 279 (41.1) |
Hired professional home care–n (%) | 230 (33.9) |
Hired hours of professional home care–median (Q25–Q75) | 8 (4–14) |
Characteristics of the person with SCI | |
Sex–n (%) | |
Male | 499 (73.5) |
Female | 176 (25.9) |
Age in years–mean (std) | 56.4 (16.2) |
Time since injury in years–median (Q25–Q75) | 14 (5–26) |
Type of SCI–n (%) | |
Paraplegic | 417 (61.4) |
Tetraplegic | 216 (31.8) |
Missing | 46 (6.8) |
Wheelchair dependency– n (%) | |
Completely dependent on wheelchair | 464 (68.3) |
Able to stand | 22 (3.2) |
Partially able to walk | 166 (24.4) |