Do personal assistance activities promote participation for persons with disabilities in Sweden?

Figures & data

Table 1. Principal component analysis of items for which activities by personal assistance was reported, showing (n) by item.

		Components
Items	n	A	B	C
Do you receive assistance with your personal hygiene?	9673	0.821	0.308	0.093
Do you receive assistance with meals?	9908	0.795	0.297	0.125
Do you receive assistance with dressing and undressing?	9571	0.822	0.265	0.105
Do you receive assistance in communicating with others?	7426	0.470	0.282	0.423
Do you receive assistance with medication, suction of mucus, care of wounds, etc.?	8182	0.606	0.247	0.291
Do you receive assistance with supervision by someone who is always at hand?	8156	0.531	0.295	0.293
Do you receive assistance with moving indoors?	7900	0.659	0.213	0.257
Do you receive assistance with moving outdoors and with transport?	8978	0.708	0.272	0.180
Do you receive assistance with driving?	3619	0.172	0.585	0.490
Do you receive assistance with household chores, such as cleaning, laundry etc.?	8762	0.419	0.655	0.030
Do you receive assistance with repairs, washing the car, mowing the lawn, painting the house, etc.?	3374	0.171	0.620	0.455
Do you receive assistance to manage personal finances?	5974	0.242	0.686	0.250
Do you receive assistance to visit friends and relatives?	7086	0.407	0.678	0.185
Do you receive assistance with going downtown, having coffee, going shopping, etc.?	9062	0.436	0.690	0.094
Do you receive assistance with other hobbies?	8300	0.319	0.677	0.213
Do you receive assistance with family life?	6771	0.236	0.567	0.316
Do you receive assistance to work?	1604	0.168	0.275	0.806
Do you receive assistance to study?	1486	0.185	0.218	0.874
Do you receive assistance to play?	1876	0.229	0.137	0.862

Items by component is marked in bold.

Table 2. Internal consistency of Components A, B and C.

	Index	Cronbach’s α
A	Health and Care	0.88
B	Home, Leisure and Social Interaction	0.88
C	Daily Occupation	0.91

Table 3. Distribution of personal assistance by components for total population, showing mean (M) and standard deviation (SD) (N = 10,201).

	Total
Components	M (SD) (N = 10,201)
Health and Care	12.8 (3.63)
Home, Leisure and Social Interaction	9.8 (4.01)
Daily Occupation	1.0 (1.45)

Scales: Health and Care 0–16; Home, Leisure and Social Interaction 0–16; Daily Occupation 0–6.

Table 4. Distribution of personal assistance by components for total population divided by gender, showing mean (M), standard deviation (SD) and p values (N = 10,201).

	Gender
	Females	Males
Components	M (SD) (n = 4891)	M (SD) (n = 5309)	p Values
Health and Care	12.8 (3.68)	12.8 (3.57)	NS
Home, Leisure and  Social Interaction	9.7 (3.97)	9.9 (4.04)	*
Daily Occupation	0.9 (1.39)	1.1 (1.49)	**

* p < 0.05.

** p < 0.001.

NS: not significant.

Scales: Health and Care 0–16; Home, Leisure and Social Interaction 0–16; Daily Occupation 0–6.

Table 5. Distribution of personal assistance by components for total population divided by adults showing mean (M), standard deviation (SD) and p values (n = 8610).

	Adult
	Women	Men
Components	M (SD) (n = 4283)	M (SD) (n = 4327)	p Values
Health and Care	12.7 (3.7)	12.8 (3.56)	NS
Home, Leisure and  Social Interaction	10.0 (3.83)	10.3 (3.91)	**
Daily Occupation	0.6 (1.81)	0.8 (1.32)	**

* p < 0.05.

** p < 0.001.

NS: not significant.

Scales: Health and Care 0–16; Home, Leisure and Social Interaction 0–16; Daily Occupation 0–6.

Table 6. Distribution of personal assistance by components for total population divided by age, showing mean (M), standard deviation (SD) and p values (N = 10,201).

	Age
	Adults	Children
Components	M (SD) (n = 8610)	M (SD) (n = 1590)	p Values
Health and Care	12.7 (3.62)	13.2 (3.65)	*
Home, Leisure and  Social Interaction	10.1 (3.87)	8.1 (4.23)	**
Daily Occupation	0.7 (1.26)	2.4 (1.43)	**

* p < 0.05.

** p < 0.001.

Scales: Health and Care 0–16; Home, Leisure and Social Interaction 0–16; Daily Occupation 0–6.

Table 7. Distribution of personal assistance by components for total population divided by gender and eligible persons categories1 showing mean (M), standard deviation (SD) and p values (N = 10,201).

		Gender
		Females	Males
Components	Eligible person categories^a	M (SD) (n = 4891)	M (SD) (n = 5309)	p Values
Health and Care	Intellectual disability	13.6 (3.59)	13.1 (3.67)	**
	Physical disability	13.1 (3.41)	13.5 (3.26)	NS
	Special needs	12.4 (3.64)	12.5 (3.52)	NS
Home, Leisure and Social Interaction	Intellectual disability	10.2 (4.07)	10.1 (4.12)	NS
	Physical disability	10.1 (3.50)	10.6 (3.72)	NS
	Special needs	9.4 (3.86)	9.7 (4.00)	*
Daily Occupation	Intellectual disability	1.8 (1.61)	1.9 (1.62)	*
	Physical disability	0.2 (0.00)	0.4 (0.91)	NS
	Special needs	0.5 (1.04)	0.6 (1.16)	**

* p < 0.05.

** p < 0.001.

NS: not significant.

Scales: Health and Care 0–16; Home, Leisure and Social Interaction 0–16; Daily Occupation 0–6.

^a First category of eligible persons classified by intellectual disability: persons with intellectual disabilities, autism or pervasive developmental disorders; second category of eligible persons classified by physical disability: persons with severe disability following brain damage in adulthood, caused by external violence or physical illness; third category of eligible persons classified by special needs: persons with other permanent physical or mental disability that is clearly not due to normal aging. The damage is large and causes significant difficulties in daily life and hence provides an extensive need for support and service.

Table 8. Distribution of personal assistance by components in between eligible person categories, showing mean (M), standard deviation (SD) and p values (N = 10,201).

	Eligible person categories^a			p Values
Components	Intellectual disability, n = 3366	Physical disability, n = 1358	Special needs, n = 4867	Intellectual/physical disability	Intellectual disability/special needs	Physical disability/special needs
Health and Care	13.3 (3.64)	13.3 (3.33)	12.5 (3.58)	NS	*	*
Home, Leisure and Social Interaction	10.1 (4.09)	10.4 (3.63)	9.5 (3.94)	NS	*	*
Daily Occupation	1.8 (1.62)	0.3 (0.83)	0.5 (1.1)	*	*	*

* p < 0.05.

** p < 0.001.

NS: not significant.

Scales: Health and Care 0–16; Home, Leisure and Social Interaction 0–16; Daily Occupation 0–6.

^a First category of eligible persons classified by intellectual disability: persons with intellectual disabilities, autism or pervasive developmental disorders; second category of eligible persons classified by physical disability: persons with severe disability following brain damage in adulthood, caused by external violence or physical illness; third category of eligible persons classified by special needs: persons with other permanent physical or mental disability that is clearly not due to normal aging. The damage is large and causes significant difficulties in daily life and hence provides an extensive need for support and service.