Modifiable factors of depressive-symptom trajectories from caregiving through bereavement

BMC Palliative Care

Table 5 Participants’ characteristics (N = 661)

Characteristic		n^a	%^b	Characteristic	n^a	%^b
Gender				Marital status (n = 661)
Male		191	28.9	Unmarried	111	16.8
Female		470	71.1	Married	550	83.2
Age (years) (n = 655)				Financial sufficiency (n = 639)
Mean (SD)		52.14 (12.67)		Making ends meet	530	82.9
Relationship to patient (n = 660)				Financial strain	109	17.1
Spouse		431	65.2	Accurate prognostic awareness
Child		134	20.3	No	50	7.6
Other		96	14.5	Yes, time proximity to death, days
Educational attainment (n = 654)				1-30	165	25.0
< Senior high school		519	79.4	31-60	113	17.1
> Senior high school		135	20.6	61-90	83	12.6
Chronic disease (n = 661)				91-120	56	8.5
Yes		221	33.4	121-150	49	7.4
No		440	66.6	151-180	145	21.9
OCD trajectories				CRA trajectories
Profound		220	33.3	1	102	15.4
Decreasing		63	9.5	2	377	57.0
Increasing		274	41.4	3	135	20.5
Low		104	15.7	4	47	7.1
Preloss initial assessment				Final assessment before bereavement
Variable	# assessments	Mean	SD	Variable	# assessments	Mean	SD
SOC	660	60.65	17.10	SOC	654	57.13	18.29
MOS-SSS	660	63.06	13.57	MOS-SSS	661	61.48	13.23

OCD Objective caregiving demands, CRA Caregiver Reaction Assessment, SOC Sense of coherence, MOS-SSS Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey
^aThe total number of cases for each characteristic may not equal the sample size due to missing data
^bDue to the rounding error, the total percentage of each characteristic may not equal to 100%

ISSN: 1472-684X