The prevalence and predictors of loneliness in caregivers of people with dementia: findings from the IDEAL programme

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of caregivers according to loneliness group.

		Loneliness (N = 1,195)
Variable	Total (N = 1283)	Not Lonely (0–1)	Moderately Lonely (2–4)	Severely Lonely (5–6)
		N (%)/M (SD)	N (%)/M (SD)	N (%)/M (SD)	P
Total		461 (38.6%)	522 (43.7%)	212 (17.7%)
Age group
<65	369 (28.8%)	142 (30.8%)	138 (26.4%)	72 (34.0%)	0.138
65–69	208 (16.2%)	63 (13.7%)	95 (18.2%)	38 (17.9%)
70–74	267 (20.8%)	93 (20.2%)	109 (20.9%)	48 (22.6%)
75–79	223 (17.4%)	85 (18.4%)	89 (17.1%)	26 (12.3%)
80+	216 (16.8%)	78 (16.9%)	91 (17.4%)	28 (13.2%)
Sex
Men	402 (31.3%)	149 (32.3%)	176 (33.7%)	48 (22.6%)	0.011
Women	881 (68.7%)	312 (67.7%)	346 (66.3%)	164 (77.4%)
Education (n = 1232)
No formal qualifications	265 (21.5%)	97 (22.0%)	97 (19.2%)	48 (23.5%)	0.358
School leaving certificate at age 16	274 (22.2%)	94 (21.3%)	112 (22.2%)	48 (23.5%)
School leaving certificate at age 18	374 (30.4%)	122 (27.6%)	168 (33.3%)	60 (29.4%)
University	319 (25.9%)	129 (29.2%)	128 (25.4%)	48 (23.5%)
Marital status (n = 1272)
Married	1,152 (90.6%)	407 (89.9%)	475 (91.4%)	190 (90.1%)	0.701
Unmarried	120 (9.4%)	46 (10.2%)	45 (8.7%)	21 (10.0%)
Live alone (n = 1275)	40 (3.1%)	13 (2.8%)	16 (3.1%)	7 (3.3%)	0.946
Kin relationship
Spouse/Partner	1,039 (81.0%)	355 (77.0%)	432 (82.8%)	181 (85.4%)	0.012
Family/Friend	244 (19.0%)	106 (23.0%)	90 (17.2%)	31 (14.6%)
Dementia sub-type
Alzheimer’s disease	715 (55.7%)	266 (57.7%)	290 (55.6%)	115 (54.3%)	0.216
Vascular dementia	142 (11.1%)	52 (11.3%)	54 (10.3%)	23 (10.9%)
Mixed Alzheimer’s disease & Vascular dementia	263 (20.5%)	96 (20.8%)	104 (19.9%)	43 (20.3%)
Frontotemporal dementia	45 (3.5%)	14 (3.0%)	16 (3.1%)	12 (5.7%)
Parkinson’s Disease Dementia	43 (3.4%)	15 (3.3%)	23 (4.4%)	2 (0.95%)
Dementia with Lewy bodies	43 (3.4%)	11 (2.4%)	19 (3.6%)	11 (5.2%)
Unspecified/other dementia	32 (2.5%)	7 (1.5%)	16 (3.1%)	6 (2.8%)
Hours of care per day (n = 1235)
Less than 1 hour	232 (18.8%)	98 (21.8%)	100 (20.0%)	17 (8.3%)	<0.001
1–10 hours	499 (40.4%)	192 (42.8%)	194 (38.7%)	87 (42.7%)
Over 10 hours	415 (33.6%)	123 (27.4%)	173 (34.5%)	86 (42.2%)
Other responses	89 (7.2%)	36 (8.1%)	34 (6.8%)	14 (6.9%)
Depressive symptoms (n = 1201)	7.2 (7.9)	4.5 ± 5.7	7.3 ± 7.3	12.6 ± 10.2	<0.001
Caregiving stress (n = 1198)	19.2 (9.8)	14.9 ± 8.1	19.8 ± 9.2	27.0 ± 9.3	<0.001
Current relationship quality (n = 1249)	23.2 (4.7)	24.8 ± 3.9	23.0 ± 4.5	19.8 ± 4.9	<0.001
Social networks (n = 1232)	17.6 ± 5.5	20.3 ± 4.5	16.5 ± 5.3	14.4 ± 5.4	<0.001
Life satisfaction (n = 1240)	23.8 (6.5)	26.6 ± 5.5	23.1 ± 6.0	19.1 ± 6.7	<0.001
Well-being (n = 1247)	55.3 (19.8)	65.0 ± 16.6	53.1 ± 17.8	40.4 ± 19.3	<0.001

Table 2. Fully-adjusted regression model examining predictors of moderate and severe loneliness in comparison with no loneliness in caregivers of people with dementia (N = 1,283).

	Moderate Loneliness		Severe Loneliness
	RRR (95% CI)	p	RRR (95% CI)	p
Sex
Men	Ref.		Ref.
Women	0.69 (0.49–0.96)	0.027	0.70 (0.42–1.16)	0.164
Age group
<65	Ref.		Ref.
65–69	1.63 (0.95–2.78)	0.076	1.23 (0.59–2.54)	0.579
70–74	1.21 (0.73–2.01)	0.468	0.99 (0.50–1.96)	0.975
75–79	1.07 (0.63–1.81)	0.812	0.72 (0.34–1.53)	0.391
80+	1.11 (0.65–1.89)	0.711	0.75 (0.35–1.59)	0.451
Education
No formal qualifications	Ref		Ref
School leaving certificate at age 16	1.48 (0.93–2.37)	0.098	1.26 (0.66–2.41)	0.481
School leaving certificate at age 18	2.12 (1.36–3.32)	0.001	1.81 (0.97–3.37)	0.063
University	1.52 (0.95–2.42)	0.082	1.18 (0.60–2.28)	0.629
Marital status
Married	Ref		Ref.
Unmarried	0.66 (0.37–1.16)	0.149	0.76 (0.34–1.71)	0.509
Kin relationship
Spouse/Partner	Ref.		Ref.
Family/Friend	0.73 (0.43–1.23)	0.236	0.43 (0.20–0.92)	0.029
Dementia sub-type
Alzheimer’s disease	Ref.		Ref.
Vascular dementia	0.86 (0.53–1.40)	0.544	0.76 (0.38–1.52)	0.431
Mixed Alzheimer’s disease & Vascular dementia	0.96 (0.66–1.40)	0.838	0.93 (0.54–1.60)	0.784
Frontotemporal dementia	0.87 (0.38–2.03)	0.753	1.14 (0.39–3.27)	0.813
Parkinson’s Disease Dementia	0.75 (0.34–1.61)	0.455	0.19 (0.04–0.81)	0.025
Dementia with Lewy bodies	1.25 (0.51–3.04)	0.623	1.26 (0.40–3.89)	0.695
Unspecified/other dementia	1.56 (0.58–4.19)	0.379	1.22 (0.32–4.67)	0.773
Hours of care
Over 10 hours	Ref.		Ref.
1–10 hours	0.85 (0.59–1.40)	0.594	0.89 (0.54–1.46)	0.636
Less than 1 hour	1.37 (0.86–2.20)	0.188	1.03 (0.48–2.19)	0.942
Other responses	1.08 (0.57–2.03)	0.816	1.34 (0.56–3.22)	0.513
Caregiver stress	1.04 (1.01–1.06)	0.004	1.08 (1.05–1.12)	<0.001
Depressive symptoms	1.00 (0.97–1.03)	0.916	1.02 (0.98–1.05)	0.406
Social networks	0.86 (0.83–0.89)	<0.001	0.80 (0.76–0.84)	<0.001
Relationship quality	0.95 (0.91–0.99)	0.017	0.88 (0.83–0.93)	<0.001
Life satisfaction	0.97 (0.94–1.00)	0.029	0.96 (0.92–1.00)	0.049
Well-being	0.98 (0.96–0.99)	<0.001	0.96 (0.95–0.98)	<0.001

Note: RRR: relative risk ratio; CI: confidence interval.

Data availability statement

The IDEAL data will be deposited with the UK Data Archive following completion of the study in March 2020. Details on how the data can be accessed after this date will be made available on the project website www.idealproject.org.uk.