High Burden among Older Family Caregivers is Associated with High Prevalence of Symptoms: Data from the Swedish Study “Good Aging in Skåne (GÅS)”
Table 1
Characterization of the study population, comparing caregivers and noncaregivers, as well as comparing caregivers reporting high burden and low burden.
Variables n (%)
Caregivers 560 (10.3)
Noncaregivers 4897 (89.7)
High burden 88 (17.6)
Low burden 411 (82.4)
Sex
Male
285 (50.9)
2195 (44.8)
0.006
37 (42.0)
222 (54.0)
0.041
Female
275 (49.1)
2702 (55.2)
51 (58.0)
189 (46.0)
Age, decades
60–69
390 (69.6)
2993 (69.6)
<0.001
53 (60.2)
287 (69.8)
0.201
70–79
44 (7.9)
484 (9.9)
10 (11.4)
32 (7.8)
80+
126 (22.5)
1420 (29.0)
25 (28.4)
92 (22.4)
Age, years (mn) (sd)
67.5 (9.4)
69.4 (10.3)
<0.001
69.1 (9.9)
67.5 (9.4)
0.159
Education
Elementary
174 (34.1)
2136 (45.4)
<0.001
32 (36.8)
137 (33.8)
0.605
Secondary
170 (33.3)
1425 (30.3)
25 (28.7)
139 (34.3)
University
167 (32.7)
1145 (24.3)
30 (34.5)
129 (31.8)
Cohabiting status
Cohabiting
421 (75.2)
2808 (57.4)
<0.001
71 (80.7)
302 (73.5)
0.362
Single
139 (24.8)
2085 (42.6)
17 (19.3)
109 (26.5)
Financial status
Good
482 (94.1)
4443 (94.5)
0.712
81 (92.0)
383 (94.6)
0.597
Poor
30 (5.9)
257 (5.5)
7 (8.0)
22 (5.4)
MMSE
≥24
447 (93.3)
4053 (90.0)
0.024
74 (88.1)
373 (94.4)
0.035
<24
32 (6.7)
447 (10.0)
10 (11.9)
22 (5.6)
Time spent on caregiving
Once a week
197 (39.5)
—
16 (18.2)
183 (44.5)
<0.001
2-3 times a week
96 (19.2)
—
16 (18.2)
76 (18.5)
4–7 times a week
206 (41.3)
—
56 (63.6)
152 (37.0)
IADL shared household
119 (23.3)
—
12 (13.6)
107 (26.0)
<0.001
IADL outside household
228 (44.6)
—
26 (29.5)
193 (47.0)
0.001
IADL/PADL shared household
105 (20.5)
—
35 (39.8)
70 (17.0)
<0.001
IADL/PADL outside household
59 (11.5)
—
15 (17.0)
41 (10.0)
0.001
Formal support
73 (13.0)
—
46 (52.3)
26 (6.3)
<0.001
Note. Missing data: high or low burden n = 61, time spent on caregiving n = 61, and ADLs n = 49.
