Quality of life predictors in informal caregivers of seniors with a functional performance deficit – an example of home care in Poland

Figures & data

Figure 1 Flow chart of the dyads.

Abbreviations: n, numbers of dyads; IC, informal caregiver.

Figure 2 Quartile box plots for the WHOQoL-AGE scale.

Abbreviations: F1, subscale of satisfaction WHOQoL-AGE scale; F2, subscale of expectations fulfilment WHOQoL-AGE scale.

Table 1 Social and demographic characteristics of the IC (n=138)

Caregivers’ social and demographic features (n= significant)	All participants (n=138)
Sex
Female	77.5 (107)^a
Male	22.5 (31)^a
Age (years old)
60–65	41.3 (57)^a
66–75	44.2 (61)^a
Over 75	14.5 (20)^a
Mean age (years old) [age range: 60–84 years old]
Civil status	68.57±11.6, 66.5^b
Single	30.4 (42)^a
Married/in a relationship	96.9 (96)^a
Relation to a care-receiver
Spouse	43.5 (60)^a
Child	23.2 (32)^a
Sibling	4.3 (6)^a
Daughter-in-law/son-in-law	5.1 (7)^a
Further family	4.3 (6)^a
Lack of kinship/friend/neighbour	19.6 (27)^a
Caregiver’s professional activity
Full-time	18.1 (25)^a
Part-time	19.6 (27)
Job order contract	4.3 (6)^a
Retired/pensioned	51.5 (71)^a
Unemployed	6.5 (9)^a
Place of residence
Urban areas	93.5 (129)^a
Rural areas	6.5 (9)^a
Distance from the caregiver’s place of residence to the care-receiver’s
The same flat	60.9 (84)^a
The same building	8.7 (12)^a
A short-walk distance	10.9 (15)^a
About 10 min distance by means of transportation	11.6 (16)^a
About 30 min distance by means of transportation	6.5 (9)^a
About 60 min distance by means of transportation	0.7 (1)^a
Over 60 min distance by means of transportation	0.7 (1)^a
Experience in care
The first person being taken care of	44.2 (61)^a
A consecutive person being taken care of	50.7 (70)^a
Daily work with patients receiving home care	4.4 (6)^a
Specialized course for medical caregivers	0.7 (1)^a
Mean duration of care of a care-receiver (years)	3.59±2.68, 3.1^b
Mean duration of care of a care-receiver provided weekly by an IC (hours); (n=138)	36.24±41.15, 32.0^b
Mean duration of care of a care-receiver provided weekly by individuals supporting caregivers (hours); (n=72)	20.78±6.2, 17.5^b
Support for ICs provided by other people
No	52.9 (73)^a
Yes	47.1 (65)^a
Health self-assessment
Very good	12.3 (17)^a
Good	42.8 (59)^a
Mediocre	34.8 (48)^a
Poor	8.7 (12)^a
Very poor	1.4 (2)^a

Note: Data are presented as ^an (%); ^bmean±SD, median.

Abbreviation: IC, informal caregiver.

Table 2 Social and demographic characteristics of the care-receivers being looked after by informal caregivers (ICs) (n=138)

Variables	All participants (n=138)
Sex
Male	23.9 (33)^a
Female	105 (76.1)^a
Age (years) [age range: 58–104 years old]	74.91±9.08, 74.4^b
Functional capacity according to Barthel index	43.2±27.06, 32.4^b
0–20 points	32.6 (45)^a
21–40 points	45.7 (63)^a
41–85 points	21.7 (30)^a
Geriatric Depression Scale – Short Form (GDS-SF)	7.34±3.1, 7.1^b
0–5 points	44.2 (61)^a
6–15 points	55.8 (77)^a
Abbreviated Mental Test Score (AMTS)	7.78±1.65, 7.6^b
>6 points	100 (138)^a
Multimorbidities (according to ICD)^#
Hypertension (I10 – I15)	41.3 (57)^a
Ischemic heart disease (I25)	16.8 (23)^a
Atherosclerosis (I70)	42.5 (58)^a
Diabetes (E10, E11, E13, E14)	45 (62)^a
Cerebrovascular disease (I64, I65, I66, I69)	10.9 (15)^a
Degenerative polyarthritis (M15-M19)	77.9 (107)^a
Mental disorders (F03; F06.3; F06.7)	51.7 (71)^a
Diseases of the senses constituted (H 25, H53, H80, H90)	65.1 (89)^a

Notes: Data are presented as ^an (%); ^bmean±SD, median. ^#Values do not add up due to the possibility of multiple choice of answers.

Abbreviations: I10, essential (primary) hypertension; I11, hypertensive heart disease; I12, hypertensive renal disease; I13, hypertensive heart and renal disease; I15, secondary hypertension; I25, chronic ischemic heart disease; E10, type 1 diabetes mellitus; E11, type 2 diabetes mellitus; E13, other specified diabetes mellitus; E14, unspecified diabetes mellitus; I64, stroke, not specified as hemorrhage or infarction; I65, occlusion and arteries, not resulting in cerebral infarction; I69, sequelae of cerebrovascular disease; M15, polyarthrosis; M16, coxarthrosis; M17, gonarthrosis; M18, arthrosis of first carpometacarpal joint; M19, other arthrosis; F03, unspecified dementia; F06.3, organic mood (affective) disorders; F06.7, mild cognitive disorder; H25, senile cataract; H53, visual disturbances, H80, otosclerosis; H90, conductive and sensorineural hearing loss.

Table 3 Model of selected conditions of IC's QoL consistent with the WHOQoL-Age in home care provided for individuals with chronic diseases and a functional performance deficit

Variable (WHOQoL-AGE)
Model	Goodness of fit			Regression weights for predictors
	R^2 adjusted	F	p-value	B	SE (B error)	β (Beta)	t	p-value
Step 1
Support provided by others	0.373	71.693	0.000	3.114	0.368	0.615	8.467	0.000
Step 2
Support provided by others	0.404	41.345	0.000	3236	0.361	0639	8.956	0.000
Experience in care				4.928	1.834	−0.192	−2.687	0.008
Step 3
Support provided by others	0.431	31.107	0.000	3.085	0.358	0.609	8.626	0.000
Experience in care				5.140	1.793	−0.200	−2.866	0.005
ICs’ health self-assessment				2.416	0.937	0.181	2.577	0.011
Step 4
Support provided by others	0.459	26.207	0.000	3.066	0.349	0.605	8.781	0.000
Experience in care				5.651	1.761	−0.220	−3.209	0.002
IC's health self-assessment				2.325	0.915	0.174	2.540	0.012
Depressive symptoms in care-receivers				0.699	0.268	−0.178	−2.612	0.010

Notes: Variables introduced in step 1: SP [F (1.118)=71.693; p<0.001 and adjusted R²=0.373]. Variables introduced in step 2: SP_CE [F (2.117)=41.345; p<0.001; adjusted R²= 0.404 and R² change=0.036]. Variables introduced in step 3: SP_CE_CHSA [F (3.116)=31.107; p<0.001; adjusted R²= 0.431, and R² Change=0.032]. Variables introduced in step 4: SP_CE_CHSA_GDS-SF [F (4.115)=26.207; p<0.001; adjusted R²= 0.459 and R² change=0.031]. R², coefficient of determination; F, sum of squared regression; B, unstandardized regression coefficient; SE (B error), error of unstandardized regression coefficient; β (Beta), standardized regression coefficient; t, Student’s t-test; p, significance level. GDS-SF measures depressive symptoms in care-receivers.

Abbreviations: IC, informal caregiver; SP, support provided by others; CE, experience in care; CHSA, IC’ health self-assessment; GDS-SF, Geriatric Depression Scale Short Form.

Table S1 Selection process primary health care settings

Primary health care	Number of dyads chosen based on the criteria assumed	Number of dyads included in the random study	Number of nurses collecting the data
PHC-1	56	27	3
PHC-2	72	32	4
PHC-3	83	41	4
PHC-4	68	32	4
PHC-5	47	23	3
TOTAL	324	155	18

Note: PHC refers to primary health care settings, with numbers 1-4 referring to settings in urban areas, and number 5 referring to a setting in a rural area.

Table S2 WHOQoL-AGE variables excluded in the model

Model	Regression weights for predictors
	Partial correlation coefficient	β (Beta)	t	p
Step 1
Sex	−0.035	−0.028	−0,379	0,706
Age	−0.141	−0.111	−1,535	0,127
Civil status	−0.021	−0.017	−0,227	0,821
Relation to patient	−0.002	−0.002	−0,023	0,982
Distance from the caregiver’s place of residence to the patient’s	−0.067	−0.053	−0,731	0,466
Health self-assessment	0.215	0.172	2,376	0,019
Experience in care	−0.241	−0.192	−2,687	0,008
Duration of care of a patient	−0.108	−0.091	−1,174	0,243
Support provided by other people	0.093	0.075	1,014	0,313
Abbreviated Mental Test Score (AMTS)	0.051	0.042	0,557	0,578
Geriatric Depression Scale – Short Form (GDS-SF)	−0.203	−0.160	−2,244	0,027
Barthel index	0.135	0.114	1,468	0,145
Step 2
Sex	−0.059	−0.046	−0.642	0.522
Age	−0.126	−0.097	−1.371	0.173
Civil status	−0.013	−0.010	−0.138	0.890
Relation to patient	−0.044	−0.034	−0.471	0.639
Distance from the caregiver’s place of residence to the patient’s	−0.057	−0.043	−0.611	0.542
Health self-assessment	0.233	0.181	2.577	0.011
Duration of care of a patient	−0.104	−0.086	−1.131	0.260
Support provided by other people	0.054	0.043	0.578	0.564
Abbreviated Mental Test Score (AMTS)	0.096	0.078	1.044	0.299
Geriatric Depression Scale – Short Form (GDS-SF)	−0.239	−0.184	−2.649	0.009
Barthel index	0.174	0.144	1.898	0.060
Step 3
Sex	−0.050	−0.038	−0.541	0.590
Age	−0.080	−0.061	−0.861	0.391
Civil status	0.016	0.012	0.173	0.863
Relation to patient	−0.019	−0.014	−0.202	0.840
Distance from the caregiver’s place of residence to the patient’s	−0.053	−0.039	−0.569	0.571
Duration of care of a patient	0.088	0.076	0.943	0.348
Support provided by other people	−0.096	-,077	−1.037	0.302
Abbreviated Mental Test Score (AMTS)	0.103	0.081	1.112	0.269
Geriatric Depression Scale – Short Form (GDS-SF)	0.073	0.058	0.787	0.433
Barthel index	−0.237	−0.178	−2.612	0.010
Step 4
Sex	−0.067	−0.049	−0.715	0.476
Age	−0.102	−0.076	−1.100	0.274
Civil status	−0.023	−0.017	−0.250	0.803
Relation to patient	−0.093	−0.072	−0.992	0.323
Distance from the caregiver’s place of residence to the patient’s	−0.016	−0.012	−0.171	0.864
Duration of care of a patient	−0.106	−0.083	−1.144	0.255
Support provided by other people	0.116	0.089	1.252	0.213
Abbreviated Mental Test Score (AMTS)	0.029	0.023	0.314	0.754
Barthel index	0.086	0.071	0.926	0.356

Notes: Coding - Sex: 1 - female; 2 - male. Age: 1 - ≤68 years; 2 - >68 years. Civil status: 1 - single; 2 - married/in a relationship. Relation to patient: 1 - spouse/partner and parents; 2 - other (sibling/child, daughter-in-law/son-in-law, further family, lack of kinship/friend/neighbor). Distance from the caregiver’s place of residence to the patient’s: 1 - the same flat, the same building, a short-walk distance); 2 - about 10-minute distance by means of transportation, about 30-minute distance by means of transportation, about 60-minute distance by means of transportation, over 60-minute distance by means of transportation. Health self-assessment: 2 - very good, good; 1 - mediocre, poor, very poor. Experience in care: 1- the first person being taken care of; 2 - a consecutive person being taken care of. Duration of care of a patient: 1 - ≤3.59 years; 2 - >3.59 years. Support provided by other people: 1 - lack of support; 2 - support provided. Abbreviated Mental Test Score (AMTS):1 - ≤7.78; 2 - >7.78 Geriatric Depression Scale – Short Form (GDS-SF): 1 - ≤7.34; 2 - >7.34. Barthel index: 1 - ≤43.2; 2 - >43.2.