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Table 2 Baseline characteristics of people with dementia and their caregivers for the total population and differences between groups of access to assistive technology and telecare.a

From: Factors associated with access to assistive technology and telecare in home-dwelling people with dementia: baseline data from the LIVE@Home.Path trial

 

Total population n = 276

Technology

P valueb

No n = 74 (26.5)

Yes n = 202 (73.5)

Age (years)

82.1 ± 7.0

79.0 ± 6.4

83.3 ± 6.8

 < .001

Age categories (years)

   

 < .001

 66–79

74.2 ± 3.6

39 (55.7)

54 (26.7)

 

 79–86

82.6 ± 2.0

25 (33.8)

66 (32.7)

 

 86–97

89.8 ± 2.3

10 (13.5)

82 (40.6)

 

Sex

   

.001

 Men

103 (37.3)

40 (54.1)

63 (31.2)

 

Women

173 (62.7)

34 (45.9)

139 (68.8)

 

Residency

   

.54

 Own flat/house

264 (95.7)

72 (97.3)

192 (95.0)

 

 Residential home

9 (3.3)

1 (1.4)

8 (4.0)

 

 Other

3 (1.1)

1 (1.4)

2 (1.0)

 

Cohabitation status

   

 < .001

 Alone

136 (49.3)

12 (16.2)

124 (61.4)

 

 Spouse/partner

135 (48.9)

60 (81.1)

75 (37.1)

 

 Child

5 (1.8)

2 (2.7)

3 (1.5)

 

Municipality

   

.70

 A

124 (44.9)

36 (48.6)

88 (43.6)

 

 B

92 (33.3)

24 (32.4)

68 (33.7)

 

 C

60 (21.7)

14 (18.9)

46 (22.8)

 

Fall (yes)

16 (5.8)

2 (2.7)

14 (6.9)

.30

Fire (Yes)

9 (3.3)

0 (0.0)

9 (4.5)

.14

Number of diagnosis

2.57 ± 1.70

2.61 ± 1.50

2.56 ± 1.77

.39

Type of dementia

   

.11

 Alzheimers disease

101 (36.6)

32 (43.2)

69 (34.2)

 

 Vascular dementia

11 (4.0)

5 (6.8)

6 (3.0)

 

 Lewy-Legene dementia

3 (1.1)

1 (1.4)

2 (1.0)

 

 Frontotemporal dementia

1 (0.4)

1 (1.4)

0 (0.0)

 

 Mixed/unspecified dementia

152 (55.1)

32 (43.2)

120 (59.4)

 

 Other types

8 (2.9)

3 (4.1)

5 (2.5)

 

IADL scorec

19.9 ± 6.1

17.6 ± 6.4

20.8 ± 5.8

 < .001

Telephone use

   

.01

 Operates by own initiative, looks up and dials numbers

78 (29.2)

30 (41.1)

48 (24.7)

 

 Dials a few well-known numbers

131 (49.1)

29 (39.7)

102 (52.6)

 

 Answers, but does not dial

42 (15.7)

9 (12.3)

33 (17.0)

 

Not in use

14 (5.2)

3 (4.1)

11 (5.7)

 

PADL scored

10.3 ± 3.3

8.6 ± 0.4

11.0 ± 0.2

 < .001

GMHR scoree

2.8 ± 0.8

2.7 ± 0.8

2.9 ± 0.8

.04

MMSE-NR3scoref

20.7 ± 3.8

21.1 ± 3.6

20.5 ± 3.8

.21

FAST scoreg

4.2 ± 0.9

3.9 ± 0.9

4.3 ± 0.9

 < .001

Severity of dementia index

   

.03

 Low (0 poeng)

24 (8.70)

14 (18.9)

10 (5.0)

 

 Medium (1 poeng)

99 (36.9)

24 (32.4)

75 (37.1)

 

 High (2 poeng)

153 (55.4)

36 (48.7)

117 (57.9)

 

Cg age (years)

66.0 ± 12.4

72.5 ± 11.2

63.6 ± 11.0

 < .001

 33—58

90 (53)

10 (13.5)

80 (40.8)

 

 58—73

90 (65)

24 (32.4)

66 (33.7)

 

 73—92

90 (80)

40 (54.1)

50 (25.5)

 

CG sex

    

 Men

176 (64.7)

49 (66.2)

127 (64.1)

.77

 Women

96 (35.3)

25 (33.8)

71 (35.9)

 

CG kinship

   

 < .001

 Spouse

117 (43.3)

55 (74.3)

62 (30.7)

 

 Sibling

1 (0.4)

0 (0.0)

1 (0.5)

 

 Child

140 (51.6)

15 (20.3)

125 (63.3)

 

 Friend

2 (0.7)

1 (1.4)

1 (0.5)

 

 Other

11 (4.1)

3 (4.1)

8 (4.0)

 

CG living with the person with dementia (yes)

125 (46.3)

58 (78.4)

67 (34.2)

 < .001

CG`s contribution to care

   

 < .001

 1–20%

12 (4.5)

2 (2.7)

10 (5.1)

 

 21–40%

27 (9.7)

7 (9.5)

20 (10.2)

 

 41–60%

44 (16.4)

4 (5.4)

40 (20.4)

 

 61–80%

48 (17.8)

5 (6.8)

43 (21.9)

 

 81–100%

139 (51.7)

56 (75.7)

83 (42.3)

 
  1. aContinuous variables are presented as mean (± standard deviation) and categorical variables as numbers and percentages (%). Abbreviations: CG, caregiver; FAST, functional assessment scaling tool; GMHR, general medical health rating scale; IADL, instrumental activities of daily living; MMSE-NR3, Norwegian revised Mini Mental State Examination; PADL, personal activities of daily living
  2. bDifferences between groups of technology (yes/no) were tested with independent samples t tests for normally distributed continuous variables, Mann–Whitney U test for nonnormally distributed continuous variables and Chi squared tests for categorical variables
  3. cRange 8–31, measures 8 items for proxy assessment of use of telephone, shopping, economy, public transport and household; a high score indicates poor function
  4. d range 6–30, measures 6 items 1–5 for proxy assessment of personal activities such as toileting, grooming, dressing, transfer and eating. A high score indicates poor function
  5. eRange 1–4; 1– poor, 2 – moderate; 3 – good, 4 – excellent health
  6. fRange 0–30, a higher score indicates more intact cognitive function
  7. gRange 1–7, a high score indicates a high severity of dementia
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BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making

ISSN: 1472-6947

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