The relationships between depression and other outcomes of chronic illness caregiving

BMC Nursing

Table 2 Sample characteristics and comparisons by waves

	Wave 1			Wave 2
Measure	n (236)	%	M(SD)	n (271)	%	M(SD)	p ^a
Hours of care
<20 hours	38	16.1		30	11.1		.45
20–39 hours	28	11.9		39	14.4
40–79 hours	35	14.8		48	17.7
80–159 hours	35	14.8		42	15.5
≥160 hours	100	42.4		112	41.3
Stressful life events			.57 (.69)			.50 (.64)	.13
Social support			7.65 (1.95)			7.91 (1.77)	.12
Age, in years			53.56 (16.36)			53.41 (14.43)	.91
Gender
Male	85	36.0		86	31.7		.31
Female	151	64.0		185	68.3
Perceived caregiver stress
Not at all stressful	46	19.5		57	21.0		.75
Not too stressful	62	26.3		78	28.8
Somewhat stressful	77	32.6		76	28.0
Quite stressful	26	11.0		35	12.9
Very stressful	25	10.6		25	9.2
Physical function
1) Functional health
Most severe impairment	7	3.0		9	3.3		.87
Moderately severe impairment	19	8.1		17	6.3
Least severe impairment	18	7.6		23	8.5
No impairment	192	81.4		222	81.9
2) Number of chronic illnesses			1.26 (1.28)			1.37 (1.34)	.36
3) Self-rated health
Excellent	34	14.4		42	15.5		.95
Very good	88	37.3		95	35.1
Good	65	27.5		79	29.2
Fair	38	16.1		45	16.6
Poor	11	4.7		10	3.7
Self-esteem			16.02 (3.11)			16.84 (2.86)	.00
Marital satisfaction^b			-0.12 (3.66)			0.05 (3.61)	.67
Depression			16.00 (4.14)			15.15 (3.87)	.02

^a Statistical significance is determined either by t-test or chi-square. ^b Score of marital satisfaction is standardized.

ISSN: 1472-6955