Correlation Between the Frailty of Elderly Patients on Regular Haemodialysis and the Quality of Life of Their Family Caregivers: A Cross-Sectional Evaluation

Figures & data

Table 1 General Information of Older Patients

Item		Frequency (N)	Constituent Ratio (%)
Age (years)	60–69	39	43.3
	70–79	32	35.6
	80–89	18	20.0
	≥90	1	1.1
Gender	Male	52	57.8
	Female	38	42.2
Education level	Primary school and below	38	42.2
	Junior High and High School	43	47.8
	College and above	9	10.0
Marital status	Married	76	84.4
	Unmarried	1	1.1
	Divorced	1	1.1
	Bereaved spouse	12	13.3
Dialysis vintage	0~6 months	4	4.4
	7~12 months	8	8.8
	13~24 months	12	13.3
	25~60 months	36	40.0
	Over 61 months	30	33.3
Circulation condition	Arteriovenous Fistula	89	98.9
	Central venous catheter	1	1.1
BMI (kg/m^2)	<18.4	25	27.8
	18.5–23.9	44	48.9
	24–27.9	17	18.9
	≥28	4	4.4
Serum albumin (latest)	Low (< 35g/L)	33	36.7
	Normal (35–50g/L)	38	42.2
	High (> 50g/L)	19	21.1
Hemoglobin (latest)	Normal (adult male 120–160g/L, adult female 110–150g/L)	58	64.5
	Abnormal	32	35.5
Payment method	Medical Insurance	78	86.7
	Self-financed	1	1.1
	Others	11	12.2
Income	<2500 RMB/month	29	32.2
	2501–4000 RMB/month	28	31.1
	4001–5000 RMB/month	14	15.6
	5001–6000 RMB/month	10	11.1
	>6001 RMB/month	9	10.0
Health condition	Bed	1	1.1
	Wheelchair	11	12.2
	Crutch	1	1.1
	Assistance from others	29	32.2
	Independent walking	48	53.3
	Others	0	0
Ways to approach the hospital	Family members accompanying	51	56.7
	By themselves	38	42.2
	Fixed car transportation	1	1.1
Underlying diseases	Cardiac disease	11	12.2
	Diabetes mellitus	25	27.7
	Hypertension	48	53.3
	Benign tumor	3	3.3
	Others	31	34.4
	None	0	0
Hemodialysis Comorbidities	Low blood pressure	3	3.2
	High blood pressure	2	2.1
	High phosphorus	3	3.2
	None	82	86.3

Table 2 General Information of Patients’ Caregivers

Item		Frequency (N)	Constituent Ratio (%)
Age (years)	20–30	0	0
	31–40	6	6.7
	41–50	13	14.4
	51–60	12	13.3
	≥61	59	65.6
Gender	Male	45	50.0
	Female	45	50.0
Education level	Primary school and below	24	26.7
	Junior High and High School	48	53.3
	College/ Undergraduate	18	20.0
	Postgraduate and above	0	0
Marital status	Married	89	98.9
	Unmarried	1	1.1
	Divorced	0	0
	Bereaved spouse	0	0
Type of residence	Rural	18	20.0
	Urban-rural combined area	10	11.1
	Urban	62	68.9
Work situation	On the job	20	22.2
	Departure	0	0
	Retirement	69	76.7
	Others	1	1.1
Relationship with patient	Spouse	55	61.1
	Children or spouse of children	30	33.3
	Parents	0	0
	Friends	2	2.2
	Others	3	3.3
Income	<2500 RMB/month	22	24.4
	2501–4000 RMB/month	33	36.7
	4001–5000 RMB/month	25	27.8
	5001–6000 RMB/month	10	11.1
Whether to take care of people other than regular dialysis patients	Yes	13	14.4
	No	77	85.6
Whether to live with the patient	Yes	67	74.4
	No	23	25.6
Duration of care	0~6 months	7	7.8
	7~12 months	8	8.8
	13~24 months	14	15.6
	25~60 months	26	28.9
	Over 61 months	35	38.9
Daily care duration	<2 hours	18	20.0
	2~4 hours	17	18.9
	5~6 hours	24	26.7
	7~8 hours	17	18.9
	>8 hours	14	15.6

Table 3 The Ability of Older Patients to Take Care of Themselves and Their Degree of Frailty

Item	Frequency (N)	Min.	Max.	M ± SD
TFI Score	90	0.0	20.0	7.27±3.16
Self-care ability	90	25.0	100.0	45.94±20.92

Table 4 Caregiver Quality of Life and Social Support

Item	Frequency (N)	Min.	Max.	Mean ± SD
Family Caregiver-Related Quality of Life Scale	90	1.0	12.0	4.50±2.96
QoL-VAS	90	2.0	11.0	6.41±1.68
Social Support Total Score	90	16.0	49.0	32.52±6.65
Objective Support	90	3.0	18.0	7.67±2.41
Subjective Support	90	7.0	30.0	18.87±5.01
Utilization of support	90	3.0	12.0	6.01±2.02

Table 5 Correlation Between Patients’ Physical Frailty and Their Family Caregivers’ Quality of Life

	Caregivers’ Quality of Life Total Score		Patients’ Physical Frailty Condition
	r	p	r	p
Patients’ physical frailty condition	0.247	0.019	/	/
Caregivers’ quality of life total score	/	/	0.247	0.019

Table 6 A Multifactorial Analysis of Factors Affecting Caregivers’ Quality of Life

	B	S.E.	Standard Coefficient	t	p
(Constants)	3.753	1.920		1.954	0.054
Patients’ self-care ability (X1)	0.106	0.026	0.377	4.029	0.000
Patients’ physical frailty condition (X2)	−0.138	0.028	0.490	4.895	0.000
Whether to take care of people other than regular dialysis patients (X3)	−2.037	0.785	−0.243	−2.596	0.011
Duration of patient care to date (X4)	1.757	0.761	0.209	2.310	0.023
Social support (X5)	1.120	0.480	0.209	2.331	0.022
Caregivers’ type of current residence (X6)	1.079	0.500	0.202	2.159	0.034

Note: F=9.195, P<0.001, R = 0.595, R² =0.354, adjusted R² =0.315.